


Sincerely, The Milky Way

by Ripley95



Series: Sincerely [2]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Babies, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hybrids, Kid Fic, Marriage, Pregnancy, Romance, Sequel, hybrid baby fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-08-14 08:19:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 46,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16489031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ripley95/pseuds/Ripley95
Summary: This is a direct sequel to, and picks up right after my other work, 'Sincerely, The Jardaans'.This is the story of how the galaxy learns of the first human/angaran hybrid, who came into Sara and Jaal's life completely by surprise.If you haven't read the first part, this would probably not make much sense. You might be able to get away with understanding what's going on if you at least read the summary of that one, but I would recommend reading that first if you're interested in this.





	1. Sincerely, Sahuna

**Author's Note:**

> I've finally written a sequel!
> 
> The first few chapters happen directly after the events of Sincerely, The Jardaans, and therefore, does have a bit of a slow build up at first.
> 
> Rated mostly for language and adult themes.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! :)

Jaal and Sara had decided to take another full day to be with Toivos and enjoy him in private before letting the galaxy know of his being. They both knew full well that his existence had to be shared sooner rather than later, especially thanks to Sara’s job, and the fact that she was technically supposed to be reporting for duty the very next day, but they had wanted time to discuss how to go about it, as well as adjust to having him in their life. Having a baby was a big enough change for people who were expecting it, much less a couple that had no idea of his impending arrival.

At least they would have help, and emotional support.

Sahuna had managed to make it to the Nexus, granting her time to become acquainted with Toivos while things were still relatively quiet.

Scott had quickly greeted her and brought her to the  _ Tempest _ . They had been extremely lucky that she hadn’t been yelling about his existence from the rooftops. She had been in such a rush to get here that she had neglected to tell anyone about it, even the other mothers. Or perhaps she had just had enough forethought and discretion to keep it private for now, which is more than they would have expected given the circumstances. In any case, Jaal and Sara were both incredibly thankful for her silence up until this point.

Scott ushered Sahuna through the doors to Sara and Jaal’s room. Jaal moved to try to hug her, and proclaimed, “Mother!” happily with open arms, as she all but ran right past him, leaving him looking around completely dumbfounded.

“Where is my favourite grandchild?!” she beamed, hardly noticing Jaal’s welcome.

Sara looked to Jaal, both amused and sympathetic to his pitiful disposition at being brushed aside by his mother. Toivos had been laying in her lap as she let him grasp onto her finger with his tiny hand while he slept.

Sahuna immediately ran to Sara’s side, looking down at her brand new grandson, taking in a sharp breath of elation. Sara knew that the Angara typically showed their emotions freely, but the few times that Sara had met Sahuna in person, she was always the picture of composure and grace. This was a tad uncharacteristic of her nature, especially with her total disregard for Jaal, but Sara figured that Toivos had thrown literally everyone for a loop. How could he not have affected his grandmother in the same way?

Sahuna seemed to be overtaken with emotion, not being able to say anything in the moment. She bent over Sara to get a good look at her grandson. Without warning, she moved to give Sara as much of a hug as she could, as well as a loving kiss on the top of her head.

“Thank the stars,” Sara could hear her say, somewhat muffled by the hair in the way, and still strained with emotion. “You did beautifully, Sara.”

The fact that a grandchild could fill her with so much joy, to be completely uninhibited was incredibly sweet. She probably shouldn’t have been surprised really, with how important family was to Sahuna. The fact that this particular grandchild came with the honour of being the first hybrid likely only added to Sahuna’s current disposition.

And Sara already knew that Sahuna would see Toivos that way. That he bestowed an honour in what he was, and not abomination. Sara had known for a long time now that Jaal had been the best thing that could have happened to her in terms of finding a life partner. The fact that he came with such an amazing family (for the most part), was a blessing. Teviint still had her doubts, but she was slowly coming around as well.

They had already received a few glares when they would openly show their affections. Sara was happy to bear that burden and stand up to the hatred in the name of love when it was all on her shoulders, but she hated to think of what that would mean for Toivos. It was definitely Sara’s main concern for the time being, but she felt safe at least knowing that Jaal’s family would love him unquestioningly. Sahuna had already stated as much when she came to learn of Sara and Jaal’s relationship.

_ ‘Some people will find this alien match offensive. You MUST ignore them and give them no more thought than I have, which is already too much. It's a challenge and a gift to break boundaries.’ _

Sara had somewhat clung to that message in the last day. Toivos was the embodiment of the last sentiment.  _ He _ was something that would break boundaries. To Sara, she knew in her heart that he was a gift, but she already knew that parts of his life would come as a burden to him, and she hated that. She had faith that the overwhelming knowledge of his existence would be positive, especially in knowing that he didn’t have to be unique, but she also knew that it was the hateful sentiments that always seemed to stick with a person. Sara was already getting too lost in the ‘what-ifs’ though, and she realised as much. It meant everything that they already had this unconditional support structure of loving people to fight for him at least.

Sahuna hadn’t left Sara’s side this whole time, while she was lost in thought, finally almost calm enough be able to have a conversation. Jaal had just been watching the trio - his family - share a loving moment from the same spot that his mother had left him in her wake. He could easily forgive her, seeing her now, clearly overtaken with emotion..

“Would you like to hold him?” Sara finally said.

“Please. I would very much like to do so.”

Sara smiled at her as she replied, “Jaal says it’s pretty much the same as holding baby angarans. Just make sure you support his neck and head,” she said, as she started to pick up her son gently.

The slight jostling was enough to get him to totally flail his arms back against Sara’s legs and squirm a bit like he was still learning that gravity was a thing that existed, and he was suddenly being hit with it all at once. He had already done the same thing a few times before upon waking. Like it was strange to be opening his eyes to something that wasn’t complete darkness.

Sara held him closer to her chest for a moment to calm him down again, and shush him back to sleep. He had just finished a feeding before Sahuna arrived, so he should be practically comatose for at least an hour based on what seemed to be becoming his routine. It was easy to lull him back into his state of comfort as she then handed him off gently to Sahuna.

“Well, if it is like holding our young, then I am well practiced by this point,” she said with a small chuckle, in reassurance. She held him for a moment, still taking in his features, remembering the tiny weights of her own children in this moment, as well as the few grandchildren that she already had. “What a treasure he is,” she whispered to not wake him up.

Jaal finally walked over to his mother, and circled his arm around her. “Isn’t he?” Jaal said in reaffirmation.

“Ah, Jaal. I’m so sorry for not greeting you earlier,” she said, as she leaned into his hug. “I just had to see him for myself.”

“It is quite alright, mother.”

“His current is already quite strong. He is healthy,” Sahuna said, in reference to his bioelectrical field.

“Yes, it has already increased since yesterday. He is doing well,” he said, the image of a proud father, as he looked over to Sara, beaming. He had already told her as much, which ultimately made Sara happy, but it was strange that there would be a part of him that she would never fully understand. In so many other ways, he was very much like her, though. So if Jaal could have something so deeply in common with him, it was a good thing that they would be able to bond over.

“There is more good news,” Jaal continued.

“Oh?” Sahuna questioned, finally paying more attention to her son.

“Sara has agreed to join our family,” Jaal said, with elation. He was speaking in the general sense of marriage, as they hadn’t discussed fully how they wanted to go about it in terms of traditional angaran families. Jaal already knew that his mother would have no judgement directed at how they would decide to raise their family. She would be happy, and likely save space for them in their home no matter what they decide, just so they would know that it was there, but she would be happy for them no matter what.

“Ah, that is terrific news. I had wondered when you would finally get to discussing such. I was about to ask her myself. She has already been one of my daughters for quite some time as far as I’m concerned,” Sahuna said, with a smile directed towards Sara. “But I also know you, Jaal, and knew that this would be coming soon even without this little one. To be quite honest, when you called me, I thought it might be to share as much.”

“You do know me well, mother. I admittedly waited longer than I had wanted. One of Sara’s crew may have mislead me about human customs. But we are happy now, and that is all that matters.”

“We are,” Sara said, finally getting up to stretch her legs a bit, and give him a hug, even if she was much slower at getting to him than she was used to. It was the first real hug they had shared since this had all happened. She loved the feeling of being engulfed by his strong arms and warm embrace. There was no place she had ever felt safer.

“See, look at your parents, little one. I think you’ll be just fine,” Sahuna said, whispering to him, and pointing his view in their direction as he stirred ever so slightly, more for emphasis than for practicality as he was still sleeping soundly.

“His name is Toivos,” Sara finally said. As endearing as ‘little one’ was, she figured Sahuna would like to be privy to his real name.

“How fitting. Beautiful and full of hope. It suits him well.”

The four of them stayed together in their room on the  _ Tempest _ briefly, just enjoying their time with each other. They caught up and cooed over the baby. Sahuna had stated that she would be here to help for as long as they needed her. The resistance didn’t require her to anywhere near the same degree as they had a year ago. Her role was still important, but at least now there was time for her to be away.

Sara was extremely happy for the sentiment. She was absolutely elated for Toivos being in their lives now, but she had already felt somewhat in over her head. Having some help, especially from a mother-figure would be nice, and she suspected she might greedily steal Sahuna from the rest of her family or responsibilities for a while.

Sara was grateful to have Sahuna in her life, and to have been so readily accepted as one of her own, though there was a tinge of grief and guilt wishing that it could have been her own mother. At least there was still a possibility that it could be some day.

As Sara and Jaal still held each other, they shared a glance both knowing that it was time to start sharing the news of what had happened. They knew that their son’s existence would complicate things. He was beautiful, and so loved already, but the fact remained that he was unique. He was a symbol of hope and peace, but they both had to admit that not everyone would be happy about this. The Roekaar were still a threat, and constantly spewing their anti Milky Way propaganda. She and Jaal were both almost certain that they would not take to the idea of Toivos quite as kindly as their little  _ Tempest _ family had.

Sara had really not liked the idea, but everyone had decided that it was time to get Addison involved. She knew that Tann would likely have to be involved soon after, but she’d rather deal with one hothead at a time, and Addison was the lesser of two evils.


	2. Sincerely, Addison

Shortly after Sahuna had arrived, Sara had called Addison to come to the _Tempest_ when she had the time. Foster had clearly been perturbed, wondering why the pathfinder couldn’t come to her. She was a busy woman after all, and Sara had been the one who had just had a prolonged vacation. She had begrudgingly agreed to come to them after Sara had insisted that it was important.

It had taken her about an hour to finally arrive. Lexi ushered her into Sara’s room with little warning and decided to stay, figuring that Sara would likely want to have her around to go through explanations with Addison the same way she had done with the crew.

“Alright, what was so important that I had to come all the way down here?” she said, addressing Sara, sitting in her bed, not even bothering to stand up to give a proper greeting to her superior. She was so perturbed that she had completely ignored the two Angara sitting off to the side on the couches.

And as if on cue (or rather through the disturbance of Foster’s annoyed and startling voice), that’s when Toivos decided to burst out into unruly tears. Really it had been about the right time for another feeding too, so Addison’s entrance was probably just enough for him to wake up and realise as much. His cry was unsurprisingly very human too, which Sara was sure would start planting seeds of suspicion in Addison’s mind.

Addison took a look towards Jaal and Sahuna, before turning her head back to Sara. She took in a deep breath, and pinched the bridge of her nose, clearly unsettled. She calmed herself down for a second, releasing her hand.

“Is that what I think it is? Why on Earth do you have an infant?”

“I will go change him first, darling one,” Jaal said, fully knowing that Toivos was looking for food with a vengeance now, but Lexi had informed them that changing his diaper before a feeding would allow him to be lulled back into sleep should he want to do so after the feeding, rather than disturbing him with a diaper change after being fed and comfortable.

“Thank you, Jaal,” Sara said, appreciative of how much he had taken over, and his willingness to help in any way that he could. With how much he had been looking forward to having his own family, she never would have expected anything less, but seeing him so at home in his role as a father was endearing… and hot. Sara suddenly didn’t wonder so much about how people managed to have more than one child, though the thought of such still seemed to be a far off reality with the tenderness that remained between her legs. She watched Jaal and Sahuna exit the room, as they took Toivos to the medbay which is where they had been keeping his supplies for the time being, before addressing Addison again.

“What you just heard, Addison, was my son,” Sara said, completely serious, not even bothering to move from her comfortable spot on the bed.

Addison barely even entertained the idea, just looking like she was on the verge of having an outburst. “Do you think this is funny? Is this some kind of joke? I saw you - what - five days ago? Not even. You hardly looked like you could have been in such a state.”

“I can assure you that this is no joke,” Lexi chimed in. “I delivered him myself yesterday.”

“Well in that case, why did you wait so long to notify us? We really should have been looking into a replacement for you this whole time.”

Sara looked down, somewhat dejectedly. “I didn’t know.”

“What?”

“It’s true,” Lexi said again. “She had quite the unfortunate set of circumstances to land her in this position. She didn’t know until she was already in labour.”

Addison just let out a sigh, sounding somewhat more forgiving than annoyed at this point.

“Well alright. I suppose we need to get Tann involved right away. I’m sure whoever your second is at the moment should suffice to take over your position.”

“Yes. Cora’s still my second. I’ve already spoken to her. She’s ready, willing and able. I have the utmost faith in her abilities.”

“Well that’s something at least. Okay, I’ll go speak with Tann--”

“Wait, there’s more,” Lexi cut in. Addison just stopped in her tracks and looked at her questioningly. “Sara’s son, he’s not fully human.”

“What?!”

“He’s half angaran,” Lexi said.

Addison just stared at her, open mouthed for a moment, not being able to comprehend such a thing. Hybrids had never been a possibility in the Milky Way before. To have believed that such a thing was possible with a species a galaxy away from where they had originated was almost insanity.

“Yes, I know. It was quite a shock for the rest of us as well. Professor Herick has much more data on that front than I do. I suggest holding a meeting of your own with him to get up to speed with that side of things.”

“Well in that case, I see that this has just complicated my job tenfold,” Addison said, with yet another sigh, as she started to pace back and forth for a moment trying to figure out what this would mean for everyone, and everything that this information could possibly entail.

That’s when Jaal finally walked back in with Toivos, still wailing away, demanding to be fed.

“Listen, Addison, I’m not going to kick you out or anything, but he needs to eat, and I don’t think the Nexus has unpacked the formula yet, so I’m going to have to expose myself here. I don’t really mind if you don’t, but I’m warning you now that my boobs are about to be out.”

“How eloquently put, Ryder. But of course, you do what you need to do.”

Sara placed a pillow down on her lap to make the feeding slightly easier. As she went to lift up her shirt, she noticed that there had been fresh wet stains on it. Lexi had warned her that her milk should be coming in any time now, and it seemed to have come with the most inappropriate timing. She figured the tingly pain sensation that had happened while Toivos was crying must have been the let-down. It was just one of the many things that she was now forced to adjust to in the situation. She was still grateful. To be able to provide nourishment for her child felt like a privilege that she knew not everyone had, but dealing with everything that it entailed was just another thing on top of the pile that she felt entirely unprepared for.

“Ugh, great. I guess I’m going to need a new shirt,” Sara said as she got comfortable, and Toivos settled at her breast.

Lexi had noticed. “That’s terrific, Sara. That means everything’s working how it should, and it’ll help him put on some weight. It’s all a normal part of the process, and nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Thanks, Lexi,” Sara said with a smile. It had been a bit embarrassing, mostly thanks to it happening in front of Addison, but Lexi always seemed to know how to be reassuring.

“I’ll see if we can’t find something to use as nursing pads. It’ll at least prevent you from having to constantly change your shirt, because yes, that’s going to be a constant from now on.”

“Thanks, I’d really appreciate that.”

Addison had still been pacing while all of that had been going on. She finally stopped and glanced towards Sara, feeding her son, looking down at him lovingly. Jaal was diligently at her side, crossing his arms, looking like he was ready to come to their defense should he need to.

The realisation seemed to calm something in Addison. Yes, this was going to be a stressful event to deal with, and though she couldn’t exactly call Sara her friend, she was still someone important to her, and they had bonded somewhat if you could even call it that. Sara had just gone through a huge life altering event, and was trying to get used to the changes through no fault of her own. Addison realised this wasn’t a time to be taking her stress out on anyone. This wasn’t something that needed to be punished, or lectured about. If everything she heard was correct, it was just something that they would all have to learn to accommodate.

She decided to use that time to talk with Lexi for a while, trying to allow Sara the chance to finish feeding her son in peace. She just listened intently about how this all happened. Learning that Toivos would likely not be a one time event just complicated things further, but Addison had already suspected as much. There was no reason that Sara and Jaal should be unique in their abilities to procreate. She made sure to note that she would have to make a stop in with Herick on her way back to learn all of the details for herself.

“I think he’s done,” they all heard Sara say from behind them.

As Addison turned to see Sara, she relaxed her stance, and put on as much of a good face as she could muster.

“Alright, well if I’m to be the one dispersing this information, I suppose I should have as much of it as possible. May I have a look at him?” she asked about as calmly as she’d ever spoken to Sara before.

“I mean, that is kind of what you’re here for.”

Addison walked over to Sara’s side, Jaal watching her intently the entire time. The baby was laying in Sara’s lap now as she put on the fresh shirt that Jaal had grabbed for her.

“Oh my. He is quite darling, isn’t he?” Addison said, to everyone’s surprise. “May I hold him?”

“I guess so, but he needs to be burped,” Sara said, somewhat hesitantly.

“I’m aware,” she said, as Sara handed him off to her gently.

Addison took him with more practiced ease than Sara would have guessed, and propped him up so his gut was somewhat against her shoulder, creating the right amount of pressure to help the gas out, patting his back gently but still firmly enough to get the job done properly.

Sara studied her for a moment, somewhat in disbelief.

“You look like you know what you’re doing. Almost like you’re in your element,” Sara said, with a gentleness that she never would have expected when speaking to Addison.

“Yes, well,” Addison said with her stern voice as she looked at Sara somewhat mournfully. “What is it that Bradley likes to say? We stay out of people’s grief?”

Sara just nodded her head in acceptance. She wouldn’t prod, but she no longer felt threatened at the thought of Foster holding her son. He seemed to be in good hands.

“You know, there was a time that I never thought we’d get here,” Addison went on. “When the _Hyperion_ was late to arrive, and then when you showed up, and Alec was already gone, I thought we were all doomed to die a slow death. When we found out about Dr. Kennedy, I was so angry that she had gone and done something like this without thinking it through, because she wasn’t being logical. She wasn’t waiting for things to stabilize. I didn’t hate her for wanting a child, or to help make sure humanity didn’t die out. I was angry because I was terrified at what fate she might have brought that child into,” Addison said, while gently bouncing Toivos, as she walked and continued to pat his back.

“But we’ve made it. Things aren’t perfect, but the current threats are at a minimum. We have settlements that are succeeding. We have resources and infrastructure being set up, and all of that is in no small part due to you and your team. Though he certainly complicates things, this is a time for you and your family to be celebrating. I’m sorry if I came off as being brash. The stress tends to get the better of me more often than I care to admit.”

Wow… Addison was apologizing for something. That was new. This had opened up a whole other side to the woman that Sara never expected to find.

“Thanks, Addison. I know this has probably made your job harder. He’s kind of shocked us all, but we’re happy about it.”

Addison nodded at her in understanding. “There’s just something about holding a baby that can be so calming, isn’t there? It makes it feel like everything’s going to be okay,” she said, as she rubbed Toivos’ back, having already got all the burps out of him that she expected she would get.

“Well, I can’t say that I’ve had much experience in that department, but I also wouldn’t say that you’re wrong. Just looking at him makes me know that whatever’s to come from this will be worth it.”

“True enough. I suppose I should be giving him back to one of you now.”

That’s when Jaal stepped up to her, taking his son back. He had backed off more, listening to their conversation from afar, entirely changing his protective disposition to one of being more relaxed after hearing the way Addison spoke, and the way she took to him.

She gave him one last look, and a gentle caress to his sleeping face with her finger before continuing, “Alright. Well, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. You’re going to have to leave the _Tempest_ as soon as possible. We’ve been without a human pathfinder long enough as it is, and the ship will be needed. I’m going to find you an apartment on the _Nexus_ immediately until we figure out what to do with you. I’ll make sure it’s permanently available should you choose to stay here, which I would probably suggest, being that it is most likely the safest place at the moment.”

“That is, at least until the media frenzy dies down,” she continued. “We will likely have to do a news interview of some kind. I know you like Ms. T’Vessa. I’m sure she’d be thrilled for this particular piece, so I’ll try to work out the details with her. As much as you’d probably prefer that he be kept a secret, it’s probably best to be up front about it. People will wonder why you’re not the pathfinder anymore as it is, and it won’t be any kind of life for him if he has to live in hiding anyway, so best be out with it and move on with your lives.”

“I would expect you’ll be needing added security. I’ll speak with Kandros about that personally, and make sure he has someone escort you off the ship once we’ve figured all of this out. Do not leave here with that baby until he arrives. I don’t want to be putting you at risk.”

“Is that all?” Sara said with a laugh.

“Likely not,” Addison said in all seriousness.

“Of course not. Thanks for doing this, Addison,” she said more sincerely.

“It’s alright, Sara. You try to get some rest while I go try to figure this out.”

“Oh, one more thing,” Lexi jumped in, as Addison directed her attention towards the doctor. “I’d like to stay on the Nexus with them, if I may.”

“What? Lexi, no. You’ve even told me that being out there has been good for you. I don’t want to take that away from you,” Sara said.

“It was good for me at the time, getting the chance to have new specimens from the Kett. With them mostly gone for now, and you leaving, I don’t have much keeping me here. Of course I still love the rest of the crew, but truth be told, that little guy right there is a new priority. I may be one of the best specialists to care for him for the time being, not to mention the fact that he’s already my patient. And all of that aside, you’re my friend, Sara, and I want to help you thrive in this new situation.”

“Honestly, she might be a good resource,” Addison conceded. “I would imagine there might be a lot of new patients wanting to look into this. As far as I’m concerned, I would gladly grant the transfer. We can wake up a new doctor from Cryo, and have them ready to leave with the _Tempest_.”

“Well, as long as you’re sure,” Sara said.

“I am. It’ll be a privilege to watch him grow,” Lexi said.

She and Sara shared a smile. Sara was glad to know that she wasn’t about to be separated entirely from her _Tempest_ family at least, and she felt like Toivos couldn’t be in better hands.

“If that’s all settled then, I already had a to-do list about a mile long, and this has only added to it. I would suggest that you have your things packed and ready to go, but in the meantime get that rest, Sara. You deserve it.”


	3. Sincerely, The Tempest

Addison had sent word that things were falling into place. She had found them a three bedroom apartment, which was something that was a complete luxury on the  _ Nexus _ . It was easy to find though, since not many of those units had been taken due to not many actual families living here yet. Barely any of the two room apartments had even been taken for that matter, but Addison had seen that Sahuna was with them, and figured she would likely be there for some time. This would allow them to have the necessary space for everyone to live comfortably without having to arrange for more than one apartment. It would also mean that they would be on a relatively empty floor, granting them privacy, which was another benefit.

She may have received a few questioning glances from the team members she was delegating that particular task to in order to have it prepared in such a rush. All of them wondering why such lavish living arrangements would be necessary, especially knowing that they were to be given out for free as part of the  _ Nexus _ employment agreement. Even if Sara wasn’t technically the pathfinder anymore, she was still on the payroll, which had meant that she was entitled to it, not to mention the fact that she had earned it even by Addison’s standards.

Foster had been sure to take on the tasks of finding some basic baby supplies, and having them shipped to the apartment by herself. That  _ really _ would have raised some eyebrows. Luckily they had prepackaged essentials in boxes already prepared for individuals, making it easy and discreet to have them delivered. It would leave some work for Jaal to do when they got settled to set up a crib, but Addison was sure that they would all appreciate the secrecy rather than the convenience of having someone else set it up for them. She did however, make sure that it had all of the other basic furnishings that they would require.

Lexi had been easy enough to arrange for in the end as well. There weren’t many doctors taking up places in the _ Nexus _ Hospital yet either, and she found an empty office with a cot for the time being. She would have someone else arrange for a real living space, but Lexi was less of a rush in that regard, and at least the office provided something for her to have a meager living arrangement for the time being. It was spacious enough that she would even be able to have her own practice after the news got out, and until then, Addison had arranged to make sure that she had all the privileges she needed in order to help at the hospital as much as she liked.

Addison had also arranged for Kandros to escort them to the apartment personally, with a few other trusted guards. She had told them to wait for the night cycle to begin, so hopefully no one would notice anything. She didn’t want the news getting out before an official statement was made. Rumours only created pandemonium, and no one needed that at the moment.

As the hours had passed, Jaal had packed everything of theirs that they would need immediately. Mostly their clothes and toiletries, and whatever supplies they had already gotten for Toivos. That and their hamster, “Mr. Ham” was probably all they would be taking right away. As Jaal moved his cage, he mused over the hamster’s quite literal name. He was suddenly glad that he had been the one to come up with something for their son, worrying for Sara’s lack of creativity, and what she may have thought of.

There wasn’t too much else to pack. Being on a starship didn’t leave one with many possessions, which made it easier. Mostly their favourite weapons, especially Jaal’s rifle, and some other keepsakes. Sara had collected a decent assortment of model ships that she seemed to have grown quite a liking for. He and Sara had even spent a good amount of their vacation finally building some of the ones she had stowed away for down time.

It was something they both ended up enjoying. It allowed Jaal to be able to be meticulous putting them together, how he often liked to do with things, though it was different not having to take it apart to figure out in the first place. He still never looked at the directions though. He preferred the hands-on approach. It just wasn’t fun if there was something telling you how to do everything.

It had been an easy task for them to bond over though, and the models had become important to the both of them. Jaal could easily see the walls of their new home proudly displaying them. They would be a way of taking a piece of the Tempest with them. He had even begun to envision a future where Toivos would be included in the endeavor. It would be a way for Jaal to share his curiosity for how things were made and worked without being so destructive as he had been in his own youth.

Jaal had neatly packed everything they wouldn’t need right away into some crates that would likely be picked up by someone to deliver to their apartment in less of a rush.

Kandros had given them a call that his team was on their way, giving Sara and Jaal some warning so they could share a moment alone together in their room. It was their chance to say goodbye while they waited. They both knew they had to let it go, but the  _ Tempest _ would always be special to them.

It’s where their species had broken down walls, showing a commitment to develop trust. It’s where they had fallen in love. It was the first place they had called home together. It’s where they had gotten engaged, and even technically the first place that they had brought their son home to, however short that ended up being, (and of course not entirely in that order). But not only that. It was where Sara had made her family. Not just with Jaal, and now Toivos, but with all of her crew. It was bittersweet. It felt like she was saying goodbye, even though she knew that wasn’t really true.

Scott and Cora decided that they wanted to escort them to their new home as well, and had been patiently waiting outside for them to finish. It wasn’t that they didn’t trust Kandros. They were just being the overprotective siblings. Of course Sara and Jaal were capable of protecting themselves should anything happen, not to mention Sahuna with her resistance training, but Sara was still sore and recovering. Toivos may have been less than 4 pounds, but it had still been enough to do some minor damage, which left her to be much slower walking around than she was used to. Jaal would also be holding Toivos for this reason, leaving them more or less unprotected.

Security reasons aside, Scott wanted to give a proper goodbye. He was slightly upset having to leave Sara again so soon. He had only just joined her team a few months back after he was deemed fit for service. Especially after Sara’s disastrous start in Heleus, and having already felt guilt for her having to go through it alone, he was saddened to think that he wouldn’t be around as easily during such an important time in her life.

Cora had also become like a sister to Sara. She wasn’t willing to go unless she knew that Sara was settled safely, because as far as Cora was concerned, she was still the second in command until everything was said and done. Things may not have started off that easily between the two of them. Cora had been bitter about Alec’s decision to make Sara the pathfinder, but the more that they had served together, they had both found a mutual respect for each other. Cora had learned some valuable lessons about needing to make her own path in life, and Sara had needed more guidance about structure and cohesiveness. They had balanced each other out, and had easily become each other’s sounding boards.

Cora had almost seemed to be somewhat nervous of the prospect of becoming pathfinder now. After saving the  _ Leusinia _ , Cora had feared that she may have never been cut out for leadership after all, always looking for a plan to follow. Being that plan for other people to follow had been more of an overwhelming thought ever since then, but Sara had already reassured her that she would be ready. And if nothing else, Scott would be there for her now, not to mention the rest of the team, minus Lexi. Cora wouldn’t be alone just like Sara hadn’t been.

After Kandros finally arrived, Cora had come to find them. Sara wiped away a tear as they left the room, heading towards the loading bay. Her start in Heleus hadn’t been easy in the least, but she had grown accustomed to what her life had become. She had felt fulfilled, and like she had finally found a purpose, as difficult as it had been. She knew she’d be able to find those things again, but it didn’t mean that moving on wouldn’t be hard.

Kandros came up the ramp to greet them to make sure everyone was situated.

“Hey, Ryder. I heard you had some precious cargo needing some transport.”

She thumbed away a last tear and chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you could call him that.”

He got a good look at the baby for a moment. “Congratulations, you two,” he said, addressing the new parents. “I guess things are about to get pretty interesting around here, aren’t they?.”

“I would say they have already gotten pretty interesting, but you are likely right about that,” Jaal replied, jovially.

“Alright, well if you’re ready to go, we should probably try to get out of here while he’s still sleeping.”

“Yes, that is probably for the best,” Jaal agreed, as he tried to tuck Toivos under his rofjinn as much as possible, while still holding him comfortably enough, and not totally covering his face, which was signal enough for everyone to start moving.

Sara took more of a moment to look back at the loading bay. The Nomad being perched up on the hydraulic lift, being displayed in all of its banged up glory. A metaphor for the state of things. Still a powerful machine even after everything that it’s been put through. Everyone’s start here had been difficult and bleak at times, but they had all gotten through it together. She had shared so many memories here.

Cora came up behind her, resting her hand on Sara’s back gently making sure she was okay.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

Sara turned to look ahead of her again, to see Jaal starting to head down the ramp, looking back to her, making sure that she was okay. She may be leaving the  _ Tempest _ behind, but her memories were her own, and they would be there forever. She was sure SAM could even help her with that endeavor should she ever have a hard time with things. He may not be as connected as he once was, but he was still a part of her and likely always would be, and he shared most of those memories too.

Now was the time to be looking forward. She could see her future in front of her. It wasn’t anything that she ever would have expected. A family was something that had always been on the table for her, sure, but this had been a surprise in so many ways. It had been an answer to prayers never thought out loud, and welcomed so intensely that the elation of the past few days had helped quiet any doubts or fears. She had the love of her life right beside her, more supportive than he had ever been, which was saying a lot because he had never been anything but supportive in the first place. She had a son that she never knew she could love so much without even knowing of his existence a few days prior. Now was the time to be making new memories. She could be more than okay with that.

“Yeah. Let’s go,” she said quietly to Cora as she caught up to Jaal and held the hand that he had free. This was where she was meant to be.


	4. Sincerely, Moshae Sjefa

They had finally reached the front door of the apartment with no real incidents. Their little group had received a few odd glances from the people who were still out this late, but no one seemed to be the wiser. Everyone was grateful for that.

Kandros went into the apartment first, and Sara and Jaal could hear voices from inside. Addison had been waiting with the Moshae from the sound of it. No one had warned them that they would have questioning house guests as soon as they got there, but it made sense after they heard who it was. The angara would have to know about this just as much as the Milky Way species. Addison seemed to have thought of everything. Sara was suddenly glad for including her.

“Ah, finally,” Moshae Sjefa greeted them. “Addison has been keeping me here, beyond the time that I was required. I would like to be heading back to Aya, but she has told me that there is an urgent matter requiring my attention. I assume it has something to do with all of you?” she said, looking back to Addison for confirmation.

“Yes,” Addison answered the Moshae’s questioning look. “I told her it would be best for her to see it for herself.”

“You’re probably right. It is pretty unbelievable,” Scott said, from the back of the group.

“Alright. Out with it then. My shuttle’s been waiting for me for most of the day.”

Jaal and Sara just shared a tentative look. They knew that the Moshae would likely see this as a good thing, but this was just another step to everyone knowing. Addison had been right earlier though. Keeping him a secret would be no way for him to live.

Kandros backed out of the way so the Moshae could see as Sara moved to take Toivos from Jaal.

“What is this?” she asked, glancing between Addison and Sara.

“Sara has given birth to my child,” Jaal said, proudly.

“How can this be?”

“Our scientists seem to have all of the answers to that,” Addison said. “As it turns out, they’ve been studying the potential for this for quite some time without any of us knowing about it. We’ll have to enforce stricter guidelines for sharing information as it comes to light in the future, but that’s a concern for another day. I’ll make sure that they send you all of their findings before you leave for Aya. I trust that you will know the best way to release the news to your people.”

The Moshae just stared at her momentarily. Sara had never seen her rendered speechless before.

“We suspect that no one has found out about this before now, since most of the Milky Way species are still on their procreation blockers. Sara was unfortunate enough to unwittingly be a bit of a test subject in the matter,” Addison continued.

“I should think ‘unfortunate’ is a poor choice of words on your part?” The Moshae said in immediate defense of the situation. That was good. She wasn’t upset, just processing.

“I think she just means that I wasn’t even aware that I was pregnant. It just came as a bit of a shock is all. She wasn’t trying to be offensive,” Sara said.

That led the Moshae to nod her head, accepting the explanation. “Ah, well I certainly don’t envy you in that case,” she said as she finally moved over to Sara to get a look at the baby. “Boy?” she asked hesitantly.

Jaal nodded in affirmation.

“He looks remarkably human,” she said at first glance, “but I can easily see bits of you in him too, Jaal,” she said in her normally calm voice. Her momentary lapse of composure had been stifled quickly as she resumed her normal disposition.

“Beautiful. Perhaps not knowing about him was a blessing. I can already predict that the Roekaar will not take to this news kindly. I would hate to think of the foolhardy plans they may have come up with in any attempt to rid the universe of this evidence had they known about it. Now that he is here though, there is no denying it, whether they like it or not. I dare say, he resembles symbolism in our united futures.”

“That is what I thought as well. We have named him Toivos,” Jaal said.

“Ah. Hope. Yes, he certainly embodies the title well.”

“We thought so,” Sara jumped in with a smile.

“Have you joined families yet?” Sjefa asked, glancing between the two, questioningly. “As I said, not everyone will take kindly to him. The two of you being bonded will only be a benefit in the way that people take this news. People will look to you to be examples of how life as we know it has changed. To see your commitment not only to your child, but to each other will help. There are still plenty of elders from my generation that are too stuck in their ways to see that not every new being that will come into our lives is a threat, but maybe if they see partnership on a more personal level, it might be enough to sway some hearts and minds.”

Sara had to admit that the Moshae brought up some valid points. It didn’t really change anything though, because they had already gotten engaged.

“We have not done so yet, though we have already both expressed our desire to do so,” Jaal said.

“Delightful. I can perform the ceremony before I go if you wish.”

Jaal and Sara looked at each other for a moment. They hadn’t had any time to discuss any of this. As far as Sara was concerned, it really didn’t make much of a difference to her. She had no interest for a traditional human wedding, not after she had seen first hand how much people were struggling. In all honesty, she often thought that they were typically too showy and a waste of money, but especially now, with the limits on resources, she couldn’t picture herself wanting to partake in something so extravagant. She remembered Jaal having mentioned that angara were typically bonded by reciting a song, and that seemed simple enough. As far as she and Jaal were both concerned, they had already made their commitment to each other, so what was the harm in finalizing it already?

Jaal looked to her hesitantly, already knowing that human traditions seemed to be more formal from Liam’s words of advice, but he had already strayed Jaal in the wrong direction once before as far as relationship advice was concerned, so he just waited for Sara’s input on the matter.

“Let’s do it,” Sara said, with a smile towards him. “I think we’ve waited long enough, haven’t we?”

“That we have, Taoshay,” he said returning her smile, before engulfing her and their son in a hug as he kissed her forehead.

“Fantastic. It will make sharing this news easier. I assume Sara will need to rehearse the song?”

“Yeah, that would probably be for the best. Maybe that will give enough time to see if the crew can join us? It might be a nice send off too. That way we won’t have to be out in public to say goodbye to everyone tomorrow.” she said, suddenly glad that Scott and Cora were here already at the very least.

“That’s a great idea, Sara,” Scott said. “I’ll give them a call.”

“I can watch Toivos while you practice,” Cora jumped in. She had been trying to make sure to help Sara in every way that she could since his shocking arrival, which had mostly entailed her picking up Sara’s duties in getting the _Tempest_ ready. This meant that she hadn’t even had a chance to hold him once yet. She wanted to take advantage of the opportunity before having to leave for an extended period.

Sara thanked her, and handed him over as Scott finished up making the call to the rest of the crew. The changing of hands seemed to make him stir a bit more. He shouldn’t have been ready for another feeding yet, but he started getting whiny which usually led to an utter outburst of wailing. It just made Cora tense up even more than she had already been doing without realising it. That’s when Sara saw Scott go to her rescue, telling her that she just needed to relax, and that he might be cold, so holding him closer to her chest might help.

Scott really had next to no experience with babies up until this point either, but he had tried to spend as much time with Toivos while he could. Scott had meant everything that he had told his nephew during their introduction. He had every intention of being around for him as he grew up.

Scott and Sara had gone through the experience of losing their entire family. At least now they still had hope for their mother, but it didn’t mean that the grief that they had felt for her wasn’t real. It had been an awful experience to have shared, but it had also been a lesson of how valuable family was to the both of them. Scott didn’t want to squander his chance while he had it. He made sure to experience everything that he could with Toivos in their short time together before having to leave, which meant he had learned a lot about babies in the last day.

Sara couldn’t help but notice how friendly he and Cora were being. She was supposed to be focusing on the Moshae, but it was proving more difficult with the distraction of watching them. The way he had his hand on her back reassuringly, almost helping her hold Toivos up to her chest with his other arm. It had all looked rather intimate. Sara could almost envision a future where that was their child.

A part of her had already questioned whether there had been a budding romance between them. Something told her that if there wasn’t one already, there easily could be one in the future with the way they were acting. Scott simply wasn’t like that with just anyone. She couldn’t help but think that maybe he and Cora could be good for each other. She would have to grill him about that before he left, and see if she was just making things up or not.

The glare she was getting from Moshae Sjefa was enough to bring her concentration back to the task at hand, and start practicing for real, and memorizing the words. It wasn’t all that long of a song and shouldn’t prove to be that difficult. If Suvi and Kallo had done it, it really shouldn’t be all that hard.

The entire crew had managed to make it over relatively quickly, with a lot of booze in hand. They had all been brought up to speed about Sara and Jaal’s engagement, so at least this hadn’t come totally out of the blue, but it was still a little unexpected.

Sara wouldn’t have expected any gifts, but Vetra had still managed to bring something. Really it had been more of a care package for the baby, but neither of them would complain about it. As it turned out, Vetra had already managed to get her hands on some of the more luxurious supplies from her resources, still managing to keep everything on the down-low, so no one would know what was going on. There were some toys, and a ton of clothes that would probably keep him dressed at least for the next few months. Sara already knew that kids grew fast, but she hadn’t realised that there were that many sizes of clothing just for the first year alone. She was suddenly very thankful for Vetra. All of her friends had made this whole experience so much easier on her. She was lucky to have them.

Shortly after everyone arrived, the Moshae felt that they had prepared enough to get on with it. It didn’t have to be perfect. It mostly just had to be sincere, and she could already see through the way they looked at each other that they were serious about their devotion to one another. She still had a long trip ahead of her after all, and likely a lot of information to go through on her way back to Aya. She was too old to be wasting any more time than she needed to.

Her crew had all gotten comfortable around the apartment, most of them with drinks in hand as they watched Sara and Jaal standing in front of them with the Moshae.

Sara was slightly embarrassed. She didn’t really mind being the centre of attention when it was pretending to be able to act during their movie night. That was all just for fun, but this was something serious. Not something that Sara was generally accustomed to, not to mention showing her feelings in public. She had at least opened up a lot in that way with Jaal, but she wasn’t used to showing it so freely in front of everyone.

They started the song, and everyone listened intently. Suvi seemed to be particularly rapt at first, always interested in anything romantic. It wasn’t until a few lines in that something had very suddenly dawned on her. She had heard those lyrics before. She had even sung them before. She had pointedly and urgently shot her gaze to Kallo, who was staring back at her already, completely slack-jawed. Jaal must have taught it to Liam, who in turn had performed a bonding ceremony between them without them even knowing it!

No one else around them seemed to know their distress in the moment, just watching as Sara and Jaal made their commitment to each other. As the song ended, Liam yelled from the back.

“Woo hoo, now kiss her! Come on, you’ve at least got to add some kind of human tradition!"

Everyone else clapped and cheered them on, though Suvi and Kallo were still in shock and barely paying attention anymore.

The couple just smiled at each other blissfully before Jaal cupped Sara’s cheek and pulled her gently into a rather passionate kiss. It was enough for Scott to mutter something that sounded like ‘Alright, already. We get it, you love each other’. Sara took pity on him, easily remembering the extent of embarrassment that she had put him through already in the last few days, and stopped the kiss after that, leaving them both somewhat breathless.

That is, until they both turned to see a very angry looking Suvi and Kallo, which made Jaal burst out with laughter. Sara remembered him saying that he probably knew how to dissolve their vows to each other. That was almost a year ago at this point though, so she figured that he must not have ever gotten around to it, and couldn’t contain a chuckle herself. Suvi and Kallo were far less amused.

“It looks like you might have some explaining to do, Jaal,” Sara said, still laughing.

“Ha… Yes, it appears so. I’m so sorry. I had taught that song to Liam as a joke. I hadn’t thought he’d go around performing bonding ceremonies with the crew. The Moshae is still here. She will know the song to reverse it,” Jaal said as he took them over to her.

The rest of the night was used for celebration and saying goodbyes. Her crew had used up most of the alcohol, which was probably for the best, because they certainly wouldn’t be going through it any time soon themselves. With nothing to use as a substitute for breastfeeding, alcohol would still be off the table for Sara for some time, and Jaal didn’t like to drink by himself.

Addison had bid them farewell early on, allowing them to celebrate in private, and to get more rest before what would undoubtedly be another long day for her tomorrow.

Kandros stayed for a little while longer, talking to Jaal about the possibility of working together. He would need to do something while they were on the _Nexus_ , and he wasn’t willing to leave Sara at a time like this to return to the resistance, or go back to the _Tempest_ without her. He would likely have to talk to Evfra about that soon as well. The Moshae insisted that he wait to talk to Evfra until she was able to see the look on his face when they gave him the news, to which Jaal had agreed. It would grant them a few days to just be a family, and adjust to their new lives before having to decide on anything.

Sara had gotten some confirming evidence from Scott that he at least had feelings for Cora. Sara took that opportunity to remind him of Ellen’s last words to them. To fall in love, at least once. That if things felt right, he should go for it, because as far as she was concerned, their mother was on to something with that one. Jaal had left her with such a profound happiness that she never would have expected. To just know that there would always be someone there for her unconditionally, and that she could be that for Jaal too was one of the most amazing feelings she had ever experienced.

For Sara, Jaal had been the first person she had truly felt that with. She had thought she had experienced love before, but she had been wrong, and Jaal proved that. She had never felt more safe, or adored in her life.

Whether Cora would be that person for Scott or not, was still up in the air, but she told him that there was no way to know unless they tried. Scott had conceded that it was a good thought. He didn’t exactly want to complicate things when they were about to be working so closely together though, but he would at least consider it. Sara had reassured them that it had worked for her and Jaal. Of course not every couple would be the same, but it was proof that it _could_ work.

Liam had always been good for a laugh. He was the one that always helped get her mind off of things when they were becoming too stressful. She suspected that Jaal would have a harder time leaving him behind though. They had become best friends, always loving to push each other's buttons. Liam and Jaal easily became like children when they were around each other, and Sara had to admit that she didn’t particularly mind the thought of that not happening as often. Now that she had her own child to take care of, she didn’t need two more adult children to have to worry about.

Drack had easily become like a grandpa to her, always bestowing wisdom, whether it was solicited or not. Some of it better than others, and some of it old people rants that she just forced herself to listen to out of respect for her elders, but it had always been with good intentions. He had proven to be surprisingly nurturing, and had always been a solid shoulder to lean on.

She had shown him a kindness throughout their time together that he hadn’t seen since coming to Andromeda, and he had easily opened himself up to her in the same ways. He reassured her that Toivos was in good hands. He could see the glimmer of anxiousness behind all of her joy, which would have been fair for any new parents, much less ones in their situation, but he already knew that Sara would be well suited to the job, because he had already seen her nurturing and caring side for himself.

He kindly reminded her that parents were only the starting line as far as children were concerned. Her only real job in this scenario was to be the loving and supportive structure from which he would take off. He had told her that before, but it had entirely new meaning now as a parent herself. She would take it to heart.

Vetra had shown concern over Sara, always the worried older sister. She may not have had to raise a baby, but she could empathise, as she had also had to deal with similar sudden life changes as she had become somewhat of a mother-figure for Sid. She at least was less worried knowing Jaal for herself, and how much he loved Ryder. She knew that Sara would be in good hands, not that she wasn’t capable of handling herself. It just made leaving easier knowing that there would be someone around to take care of her.

Kallo would miss her. He had come to respect her entirely. Even though Sara hadn’t agreed with him during his rather public spat with Gil, she had been exceptionally kind throughout the matter. He had valued her honest approach while still trying to respect his feelings, and it had even helped he and Gil develop an actual friendship over the months. Something for which he never would have thought possible without her.

Gil seemed to be quite fond of Toivos this whole time. His own daughter was due in about a month, and Sara suspected that he was using Toivos somewhat as practice. Fatherhood suited him. He was nervous but excited, and she could see just being around Toivos had calmed him somewhat. He joked with Sara about their conversations talking about the prospects of becoming parents, and how he she just had to beat him to the punch. She had responded by saying that she had to beat him at something, and it was never going to be poker.

Peebee had shed a few tears to everyone’s surprise. The alcohol had most likely led her to be uninhibited, which turned into an admission of the fact that Sara was the one responsible for her wanting to make a home on the _Tempest_ , and that things wouldn’t be the same without her there. Sara was flattered by the thought. She was glad that Peebee had found somewhere that she fit in, and she knew that the crew would still take care of her. Sara reassured her that there was so much remtech out there waiting for her to study that she would barely notice anything different with how busy she’d be.

Suvi had easily become one of her best friends as well. Sara loved her adventurous and curious nature, and it was something they had bonded over easily. Suvi was currently having a particularly hard time relinquishing Toivos to his parents. For only having been in everyone’s lives for a couple of days at this point, everyone had seemed to fall in love with him easily, but Suvi had helped bring him into the world. She was his godmother, and she was having a more difficult time saying goodbye than she cared to admit. Sara wasn’t so surprised though. Suvi had always exuded a maternal nature, which had become especially evident with the way that she had cared for Sara while she was in labour.

Sara gave her a big hug, appreciating everything that she had done for her in the last few days. That was enough for her to finally hand him over to Sara, as they all decided it was time to start dispersing and leave the newlyweds to get comfortable in their new home.

Cora had stayed behind, wanting to say goodbye to Sara in private.

She stood at parade rest, looking like she was trying to hold back tears.

“It’s okay, Cora,” Sara came over and said to her, in hushed tones.

That was enough for her to finally relax a little bit, and wipe away the tear that had forced its way out.

“Things just aren’t going to be the same without you, you know,” she said, calming herself down again. “I know I’ll be fine. This is what I’ve trained for. I know I’ll get used to being the one making the plans, you’re right about that. But you’ve become the glue that holds our crazy _Tempest_ family together. I don’t know if I can be that. People don’t relate to me the same way that they’re drawn to you.”

That made Sara smile, genuinely flattered. She had to admit that with her lack of experience, it probably had ended up making her lead the ship somewhat unconventionally, probably getting too personal with everything. But it had worked for them.

“I don’t think you and I are capable of running things the same way, Cora. Things are going to be different, but that’s okay. They’re all still the same people. I know they give you a hard time sometimes, but they respect you. You’re smart, and talented at what you do. They’ll follow you just as well as they followed me, because they know you’re capable and kind. Just try to go easy on them. They’re not asari commandos, or military, so just remember that they’re not used to being held to such strict standards. You just have to find that balance of being in command, but remembering that they’re just people too.”

Cora huffed out a laugh. “You make it sound so easy.”

“I guess it’s not, but I know you can find that balance. I did. Just remember that if they seem to be giving you a harder time than usual, that’s their way of trying to tell you to calm down a bit, and relax. That’s important too.”

Cora just nodded for a moment. She knew it was valuable advice. Being so tightly wound all the time wouldn’t be good for anyone, much less the person who was supposed to be in command.

“I’m going to miss you,” Cora said.

“I’m going to miss you too, Cora.”

Cora moved to give her one last hug, and caress Toivos’ cheek gently.

“Alright, well I guess I should really be letting you guys get settled, shouldn’t I?”

“I think the same could be said for you, couldn’t it?” Sara said.

“I suppose you’re right. I promise we’ll come visit as soon as we can.”

“You better,” she said with a laugh.

Jaal gave her a big hug too before she left. They all gave one last nod to each other. With SAM’s help, no one would ever be further than a quick message away, anyway.

It was bittersweet, but it was time for everyone to be moving on and adjusting to their new lives.


	5. Sincerely, Keri T'Vessa

The Moshae’s departure had left them in a high. Sara and Jaal had never felt closer. They were elated with the prospect of finally starting their lives together.

Though, they were still insanely nervous about their news getting out. Addison had arranged for Keri to come to the apartment the morning after they wed, knowing that it would likely take another day or so to have the story be ready to actually broadcast to people. At this point, everyone was just ready for the information to be out and get the worst parts over with.

She had made sure that Professor Herick and Lexi would be there as well, so the interview could be as well informed as possible.

Sara had all but threatened to sequester themselves to the apartment until the initial shock would die down, so really, she was just as ready to be on with it as everyone else. Jaal had admittedly been nervous over the prospect of them going anywhere alone for the time-being, so he wasn’t about to complain. He had no worries about Sara’s abilities to protect herself, but with a baby to worry about and the potential for crowds to become mobs, going out in public was still a scary prospect.

Jaal presumed that this would really only be one of the first of many new worries as a parent though, and he would have to learn to let life go on. There was no way for this news to not be shocking at first, but he craved for a day that his son would just be a normality.

Addison had been sure to arrive early, wanting to monitor the entire interview and make sure that it remained civil and diplomatic. She normally liked how much Keri’s broadcasts could stir the shitpot, especially with Tann, but this time it would involve sensitive subjects, and she didn’t want to risk anything going wrong.

Keri had arrived shortly after with her producer Hakim in tow. As the door chimed, Jaal had gotten up to greet her. Sara was hobbling behind him slowly, which Keri had noticed immediately.

“Ryder?! What are you doing here? I saw the _ Tempest _ depart earlier this morning. Is this what I was asked to come here for today? Were you injured?”

Sara let out a small laugh. “I guess you could say that, though probably not at all in the way you’re thinking.”

Jaal had moved aside to welcome them in.

After the door was securely shut, Addison came over to address her.

“In all honesty, yes this does involve the pathfinder. But it’s much larger than that. I’ve asked you here today to report on something that is going to change life as we know it, and it’s going to require a respectful piece. I hope you’re up to the task.”

“Always. As long as I’m allowed to be truthful, I try to treat everything I report on with the respect it deserves.”

“Alright then. Sara, are you ready?” Addison asked.

She nodded in affirmation. “Sahuna, you can come out now.”

Sahuna came out, Toivos tucked over her shoulder.

Keri just looked from Sahuna to Sara.

“What’s this? You didn’t have a baby?”

“I did,” Sara said as she walked over to pick him up herself, and bring him over to Keri.

“Keri, I’d like you to meet Toivos. He’s the first human, angaran hybrid.”

Keri and Hakim just stared at her open-mouthed for a moment.

“Hmm. Now I certainly understand why you wanted discretion,” Keri finally said as she moved closer to Sara. “Well well, if history has anything to say about this, the angara are likely going to become a popular choice in partners for humans. Any time species made first contact with the Asari, it always seemed to prove as much at least. Then again, we didn’t have the added disadvantage of a history of trust issues behind us.”

“We think that most people will be excited about this, but that’s exactly why we’re being really cautious about this.”

“How have you managed to keep this a secret this whole time?”

“Because I didn’t even know,” Sara said with a laugh.

Keri just raised her eye ridges at that in surprise.

“Yeah, so as shocked as you are, imagine how I felt when I suddenly went into labour never having realised I was even pregnant.”

“You can’t be serious,” Keri said in awe.

“I’m afraid so,” Sara nodded with a laugh. It certainly wasn’t funny at the time, but it had already proved to at least be somewhat humorous looking back at it now, if only from the sheer unbelievability of it all.

“You should know, it’s not just humans that this is possible for,” Professor Herick jumped in.

Keri turned to address him now.

“It’s all species that have live births. So right now, the only other people this will affect is the turians, but if we ever find the quarian ark, it will also affect them as well as the drell.”

“Ah, it looks as though the asari are about to have some competition. This is truly remarkable.”

“Isn’t it? I certainly like to think so. I’m sure we’ll get into it at length during your interview. It’s important that we disperse all of the relevant information, so we’re hoping to be able to do so through your broadcast,” Herick said.

“Of course. This is the story of a lifetime. You make it sound like there’s quite a lot of information to divulge. Perhaps I’ll have to make this into a series.”

“A series does sound appropriate, but it would be nice if there wasn’t much of a delay between pieces. People will be looking for answers,” Addison added.

“Yes, I’m sure they will. Well, in that case we should absolutely film everything today. I’ll likely need another day to edit everything, and hopefully I can release everything soon after that. We should probably do the first segment about Sara, and the baby. Make it personal. Like her or not, everyone knows who Ryder is. They all know what she’s done for everyone here. People will sympathise more knowing that this isn’t just data, or ambiguous possibilities, but rather that it’s fact coming from a beloved hero.”

“You’re making me blush over here,” Sara said somewhat sarcastically.

Keri laughed at that. “Yes, well, not that I don’t believe those things for myself, but I’m mostly trying to think out loud in how to get this to have a positive spin.”

“Hmm, well now I just feel insulted.”

Keri laughed. “You shouldn’t, but this is just part of my job,” she said to Sara. Then she turned her attention to Hakim. “Alright, maybe we should start by getting some shots for a montage sequence? Get some of the parents, and some of the baby. Maybe even one of me holding him, that is if it’s okay with you?” she asked, directing her attention back to Sara again.

“Yeah. You’re the one with the vision. You’ve never led me wrong with our broadcasts before. I trust you.”

“Alright, well then let’s get to it shall we? I suspect today will be quite a long day.”

Sara and Jaal nodded as they got the camera equipment ready. As she was getting her initial shots, they had told her that they had also married, to which Keri added that that would only add to the positive message that she could spin with this, and congratulated them.

She had taken the time that Hakim was shooting to prepare some questions, and have a general outline of how the interview would go.

She was glad that bandwidth had improved since their arrival in Andromeda. She was no longer constrained to reporting in short bursts, though the entirety of this story would still likely push their technology to its limits despite that.

After they got a few shots to use for visual aids, she quickly moved onto the interviewing process, not wanting to waste anymore time than necessary.

“Hello, I’m Keri T’Vessa, coming to you with a string of breaking news. In the first turn of events, the human pathfinder, Sara Ryder has been forced to step down due to a remarkable set of personal matters. I’m here with her today, as she’s shared the news with me that she has married and given birth to her first child right under our noses. Sara, how do you feel?”

“Thanks, Keri. I know this news will likely come as quite a shock to everyone, but I’m incredibly happy right now.”

“Yes, and rightly so. As I hear it, this news was quite a shock to you as well.”

“That’s true, yes. Once everyone sees my son, I’m sure they’ll be aware of why.”

“I believe you’re right. Why don’t we call your son and husband in now.”

Sara just glanced in Jaal’s direction, signalling for him to come over and hand Toivos to her gently.

“Now I’m sure you’re incredibly recognizable in your own right, but for anyone who is not aware, this is Jaal Ama Darav. He’s been part of the pathfinder crew ever since their discovery of Aya. You have been working in tandem as a liaison with the Resistance, partnered with the Initiative ever since the beginning. Your relationship hasn’t been a secret ever since the battle for Meridian where you shared quite the intimate moment, but now it appears as though things have become quite a bit more serious.”

“In truth, things have been serious for quite some time now,” Jaal said, while wrapping his arm around Sara. “It’s just that we have finally made a permanent bond of commitment.”

“Yes, and congratulations on that development, as well as the birth of your son, which I’m sure everyone out there must be wondering about right now. This is Toivos. He is the first confirmed birth to a human, angaran couple, and therefore the first hybrid baby. I think I’m with the rest of Andromeda when I say that we’re all incredibly happy for you both.”

“Thank you. I have to say, that Sara has made me incredibly happy. She has completed me, and given me a family. This is a gift to be cherished.”

“It most certainly is. Now, Sara, I have to ask, when you agreed to join the Initiative, did you ever see your life ending up this way?”

“Maybe not quite like this,” she had said with a small laugh. “But part of the reason for coming to Andromeda was to find adventure, make new discoveries, and explore the unknown. This wasn’t exactly what I had envisioned when I signed on to the Initiative, but I’ve still managed to find all of those things in my own way. It just happened jo come with the benefit of finding the greatest love of my life at the same time, and the gift of being able to start a family with him. We feel completely and utterly blessed to have found each other, and grateful for our child, as unexpected as he was.”

“Well, I for one, am ecstatic for you and this new development. I would just like to be one of the first to say that after you helped everyone settle in Andromeda, it’s only right that you be among the ones to reap the benefits. Congratulations on your gorgeous family, Ryder, and good luck in all of your future endeavors.”

“Thank you very much, Keri,” she said with a smile, at which point Hakim moved to a close-up shot of just Keri.

“Well, there you have it. The human pathfinder has given birth to the first human, angaran hybrid. This is an incredible new discovery that I’m sure has led to the public having a lot of questions. Stay tuned for my next segment where our very own Professor Herick will explain how this was all possible, and what this means for Heleus. We predict little Toivos to only be the first of many. This has been Keri T’Vessa, signing off.”

She rambled off some notes for Hakim before turning back to Sara and Jaal.

“I just want to thank you for considering me for this. Not that there’s all that much competition right now, or that I needed a big break or anything, but this truly is the story of a lifetime, even for an asari.

“You’re welcome, Keri. To be honest, I don’t think I would have wanted anyone else for this.”

“Thanks. Now, I’ll try to finish up with your doctor and the professor as quickly as possible so I can get out of your hair, but I promise to do this piece justice, Ryder. This is quite a step you’ve made, whether intentional or not, and I’m just glad that it’s made you all that much more happy in the process.”

Jaal and Sara nodded in acknowledgement, happy with the interview that had just taken place. Jaal still had his arm wrapped around her, encapsulating Sara in her safe space, and they had both begun to finally feel the tension easing. They were happy with the prospect of finally moving on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol, so I know that only a couple of days have passed since the events of Sincerely, the Jardaans still, but I promise it'll pick up soon. Chapter 7 is where more time starts to pass and then chapter 10 is where it really starts to pick up. Thanks for hanging in there with me.


	6. Sincerely, Evfra

The next morning, Jaal had been awoken by a call through the angaran version of an omni-tool. It was the Moshae. He had a feeling he knew what this was about.

“Good morning, Moshae. How may I be of service?” he said, still somewhat groggily.

“Ah, yes, it seems that in my excitement, I may have ignored the time difference. I am sorry to have woken you.”

“It is alright, Moshae. What do you need?”

“I am back on Aya. Evfra is with me. I have told him that you have news.”

“Ah, as I suspected.”

“Yes. Hello Jaal, what is it?” he said, sounding entirely perturbed like this conversation was just a big inconvenience. So nothing new really.

Sara had woken up now, and silently turned to listen to the conversation. She was still somewhat exhausted from having to wake up every two to three hours to feed Toivos, but still with a big grin on her face, wanting to see Evfra’s reaction.

Jaal silently looked to Sara and smiled back at her, totally beaming with pride.

“I have a son, Evfra.”

“Ah. I have to say that comes as a surprise. Finally gotten rid of that human then have you?” he said, only slightly enthused this time.

Sara was having a hard time stifling her laugh, and Jaal just seemed to be entirely offended at the prospect. He knew that Ryder’s personality clashed with Evfra’s, but Evfra had still known that Sara was important to him, and Jaal didn’t care for him treating the situation so poorly.

“You know very well what ‘that human’s’ name is. And no. Sara and I have bonded. The Moshae performed the ceremony herself.”

“Mmm,” Evfra grumbled out, seeming indifferent at this point. “So what’s this of a son then?”

“Sara has given birth to our child.”

“Ah. Has she taken you for a fool then too?”

“Hardly,” Jaal said, starting to become upset. “You have not even seen him for yourself, but your first judgement is that this must be some trick, or that Sara has had an affair. I assure you it is not.”

Sara finally moved to snuggle against him, and whispered into his ear. “It’s okay, Jaal. I don’t think he’s trying to be offensive. It is pretty hard to believe if you really think about it.”

“Ah, hello Ryder.”

Sara turned to the omni-tool’s viewport now. “Hi, Evfra,” she said, with forced composure. “Thanks for essentially calling me a slut just now, but I assure you, I don’t ‘take Jaal for a fool,’ as you so nicely put it. I don’t think my words will persuade you though, so how about I just go and get him so you can see for yourself.”

“That is likely the best solution,” Evfra said, still not caring that he had caused offense, more concerned for his friends well-being at this point.

Jaal had built the crib to be in their room for now. Toivos was only a few days old and in constant need of being with Sara, not to mention the health benefits of him sharing a room this young, so Sara only had to take a few steps in order to get him.

She picked him up gently, trying not to wake him. She couldn’t help but give him a soft kiss on the top of his head, still just as infatuated with his soft, downy hair as she had been from the first day. She sat gingerly on the bed, partially for still being sore, and partially to make sure he would stay asleep. Jaal sat up properly now, to help be able to position the camera towards Toivos.

Sara got comfortable, and readjusted Toivos in her arms to be pointed out towards Jaal, where he moved his ‘tool in closer.

“Evfra, meet Toivos,” Sara said.

It looked like he must have grabbed the Moshae’s arm and brought it closer to his face, as his eyes were suddenly taking up the whole viewport, showing that he was trying to study Toivos intently.

He finally backed away after a moment. “Skutting Stars. My apologies. He does look remarkably human, though even I can see the angara in him.”

“Yes, and his current is already much stronger than that of a humans. There is no doubt in my mind,” they could all hear the Moshae say from outside of their perspective.

Evfra had clearly been looking towards her for confirmation of what she had just said. He trusted her opinion more than any other. If that’s what she had to say on the matter then he would take her at her word.

“Right. Well, I suppose there is a reason you’re bringing this to me?”

“A few actually, yes. The first reason is that this news is about to go public. Keri will likely send you the story soon for your own broadcasts, and we suspect that the Roekaar will not take kindly to this,” Jaal said.

“Likely not,” Evfra agreed.

“As leader of the Resistance, we figured you should be among the first to know, allowing you time to make your own plans at how to handle the news,” the Moshae added.

“Mmm, yes. That is likely a good idea. I suspect there will be more discourse from our people than from the Milky Way species. They have had centuries to get used to this type of mindset, whereas our own history has been built on distrust. As much as I was in disbelief, I do believe that this is a good thing. It is a way to bridge the gaps between our people.”

“That is what I had thought on the matter as well. Toivos proves that the Milky Way species are nothing like the Kett as far as I’m concerned,” Jaal said.

“Yes, well you would see it that way. I think most from your generation will agree as well, but there will be some that will see this as the Milky Way species making us impure, and muddying our bloodline. That is likely how the Roekaar will try to spin it at the least.”

That made Jaal look to Toivos and Sara. It had clearly upset his wife. It pained him to think of how sweet and innocent Toivos was in this whole matter, and yet somehow he would be villainized just for existing through no fault of his own. It was a sad thought, but Jaal would never think of him as anything other than a gift, despite what anyone else said about him.

“Alright, well I will send word for people to be on higher alert, and to keep our minds and ears open to the intel that is being shared. Thank you for the warning, Jaal.”

“Yes, well it is just as much for our benefit as it is for yours,” he said. “The other matter needing to be dealt with is my job. The director of security here on the _Nexus_ has proposed that I become a liaison between the Resistance and the Initiative and to stay here and work in their security department. That is, if it is acceptable to you.”

Evfra had stopped to think on the matter momentarily. “Mmm, yes, I think that should be acceptable. It would benefit us as well. Something tells me that you wouldn’t have taken no for an answer right now anyway with your new family. I will contact him and work out the details.”

“Thank you, Evfra.”

“Yes, yes. Now go enjoy your time off. I suspect you won’t be having much more of it soon enough.”

“I will take that to heart, dear friend.”

“So you shall. May stars and skies light your way,” Evfra said, still sounding almost entirely indifferent. Jaal and Sara both figured that may as well have been as happy as he was willing to be with the newfound inconvenience and extra work that this had just provided for him, so they would take it. Indifference was better than anger. They waved their goodbye’s before the Moshae had cut off the call.

Keri’s interview had been so positive. It had been enough to ease any tension over the thought of putting out the news, but now it had all come back in full force after speaking with Evfra.

Sara had Toivos perched on her chest, curled up and blissfully ignorant of the world around him. She couldn’t help but give him another kiss on the top of his head, fearing what his future might hold. Jaal could sense her anxiousness over the matter, and grabbed the hand that was closest to his as he gazed lovingly into her eyes. Whatever challenges they would face would be together. They would strengthen each other, and be there for their son. It was all they could do in this situation, because they certainly wouldn’t change anything.

Sara may not be able to communicate with a bioelectric current, but she could read all of that just through Jaal’s actions and emotions. They had found their own language of love with which to communicate, and it was enough for her to know that they would be okay.


	7. Sincerely, Heleus

It had been almost a month since the  _ Tempest _ had left, which also meant that it had nearly been a month since news of Toivos broke to the public.

The first few days had been chaotic. Kandros had made sure to leave them with around-the-clock security detail, which had definitely been put to use thanks to the plethora of people that didn’t understand personal boundaries. A lot of people were still in disbelief, and wanted to see the proof for themselves.

It had led Sara and Jaal to make a public appearance around the two week mark. They had been sick of the endless crowds outside their living quarters, and they didn’t see an end in sight without doing something. This allowed people to get the validation that they had wanted without them having to be up close and personal with Toivos. They had taken that opportunity to remind everyone that even though they understood everyone’s curiosity, they were just trying to adjust to their new lives, and that all they wanted was the privacy to do so in peace. They led people to the public resources that Lexi and professor Herick had made available, and kindly asked for everyone to give them some space.

Most people had seemed to get the hint after that. Sara and Jaal were still cautious though. People may not have been threatening to break down their door for the most part anymore, but they were still scared about being seen in public.

A lot of that was thanks to being on the receiving end of an excessive amount of messages ever since Keri’s broadcast, not all of which were pleasant.

Keri had warned them that getting negative messages would be a very likely possibility. She had been on the receiving end of a decent amount of hate throughout her career, but she had been used to it. It was the job that she had chosen despite knowing full well that a large portion of her audience would often have differing opinions than her own, which constantly resulted in derision and sometimes even anger. The difference was that it was the career that Keri had chosen for herself, knowing full well the ramifications that it came with. She had developed a thick skin through her decades on the job, and her stories weren’t usually about something so deeply personal to her, so she knew this would be different for them.

Addison had offered to assign them a mail sorting VI to try to get rid of all of the negative messages before Sara or Jaal would even have to know of their existence, but Sara had declined immediately. She figured it would be best to know all attitudes towards this issue,  _ especially _ the bad. They needed to be prepared for everything. She had it in her mind that it would be better to be vulnerable to it all now, and develop an immunity to the hate while Toivos was blissfully unaware of it all. That way she and Jaal could be his image of strength in his future when it mattered.

There had been a few humans and turians concerned with the prospect of their people dying out thanks to this new development, as it only added to people not wanting to propagate with their own species. Those messages in and of themselves hadn’t been entirely negative, just worried for what this meant for the future. Sara could at least sympathise with that mindset, despite not particularly agreeing with the immediate turn to concern rather than happiness for this.

Most of the messages of hate had come from the Roekaar. That wasn’t surprising though. They had claimed that it was just another way that new species were trying to come and change history and take what was already theirs, citing that this was no different than the Kett.

Jaal had vehemently disagreed with those sentiments, already seeing how Toivos was proof that the Milky Way species were the exact opposite, and stating so ever since his birth. They couldn’t see that he was something entirely new, and didn’t take away from anything. The Roekaar had even boasted that they had seen a surge in their new recruits from angara who had feared what this meant for their people. They just saw this as another way for attempted domination, thinking that joining the Roekaar was the only way to protect themselves.

Those were definitely the messages that Sara and Jaal had feared the most. They had always forwarded those ones directly to Evfra and Kandros. Kandros had even tightened security around the  _ Nexus _ thanks to them.

On the more shocking side of things, they had even received some messages of people who had been part of the Roekaar that  _ had _ seen Jaal’s side of things for themselves. They said that this news changed their entire perspectives, seeing how this was proof that everyone could coexist peacefully, leading them to leave the Roekaar immediately and by the masses. So even if the Roekaar were getting new recruits, they were also losing a lot in the process. Things definitely could have been worse.

They had gotten messages from other angaran mixed race couples saying how much they had looked up to Sara and Jaal ever since Meridian, and how this had provided them with new hope that their relationships may one day be considered normal.

They had even gotten a lot of messages from the Milky Way species, giving notes of encouragement. Some of the Asari in particular even remembering a time when multi species relationships weren’t a normality for humans, and that things had ended up just fine for all of them. There had been some human, turian relationships that had said more or less that they were happy for Sara and Jaal, but jealous of their ability to have children of their own, and that Toivos was a blessing that should be appreciated.

For what was now the second time since shooting Jaal, Akksul had sent Ryder a message. He had stated that as hard as he had been trying to not see aliens through a veil of hatred since that day, it had been difficult. But something about this news had finally made him see that the Milky Way species were not the same as the Kett. He had continued to include the fact that this still wasn’t enough to earn his entire trust, but it was something that at least made him see potential for peace.

That more than anything had given Sara hope. If Akksul was capable of seeing this as a good thing, she figured anyone could, given time.

They had gotten thousands of messages just within the first day of the report going out, and tens of thousands more throughout the rest of the month. It had been incredibly reassuring that there had only been about one or two negative message for every hundred or so total, but of course they knew it would be the bad ones that would stay with them. Those were the ones that they needed to worry about, and stung enough that the pain would linger. But at least, they felt a bit better knowing that, for the most part, they had been overreacting. Just knowing how much of those letters had been overwhelming cries of support had definitely made them relax at least a little bit, even if they wouldn’t take away the pain from the negativity.

Sahuna had proven to be more than just helpful with Toivos this whole time. She had been the moral support that they had both needed, constantly reminding them that as challenging as this was and would be, that it was a gift to be breaking these boundaries, and that they should be proud to be on the right side of history, leading the movement to fight for love in all of its forms. 

Sahuna had quickly become a role model for Sara. She had become the surrogate mother that Sara had been missing for what felt like so long now. She exemplified everything that Sara wanted to be for Toivos.

Jaal was technically supposed to start working around the time that they had decided to do the public briefing two weeks prior, but even now, they were both still too on edge, wondering if the hoards of crowds and their insanity might just come in waves and not truly be over. He was anxious of the thought of leaving Sara alone despite their security detail, and Sahuna vowing to stay with her at all times, but they had finally decided that it was time for him to start working again.

The reality of that decision had turned out to be a little more emotionally daunting than he had expected though, and not entirely because of Toivos. He had barely spent any time away from Sara ever since he had joined her team, and something just felt wrong about now being the time that they would be spending a decent portion of their days apart. This was when he felt like she needed him the most.

But the fact remained that there was work to be done. Kandros was willing to be lenient with the schedule, but Evfra was beginning to be impatient. Especially with new activity within the Roekaar, he had wanted Jaal to take advantage of his new position on the  _ Nexus _ .

They had decided that spending a month basically under a self imposed house arrest was more than enough. Sara had never felt more stir-crazy in her life, and neither of them had felt particularly productive over the last four weeks.

Neither of them had taken the time for granted at least, getting to see Toivos grow and develop so much already. He was thriving, and happy, and even starting to give everyone smiles, though they were probably still mostly just from gas.

But living on the  _ Nexus _ , where everyone helped earn their place, had left them both feeling a bit guilty, having not helped contribute in any way. Not to mention that neither of them liked the idea of their life being dictated by fear of things that  _ could _ go wrong.

Tomorrow would finally be the day that Jaal started his new job, and Sara was so ready to get out of the house that she had all but forced her stance on wanting to join him on his walk over there. She loved Sahuna and Jaal, but they had barely had any other visitors this entire time, and she was ready to get out and see her old friends that were here. Luckily the majority of them seemed to work in Operations, which is where Jaal would be working too, so it made everything easier.

One of the first things that Vetra had managed to get them as a present was a special sling that would help make it easy to bring Toivos everywhere they went, and Sara was intent to finally put it to good use. It would be nice to go with Jaal on his first day to say goodbye and give him a proper send off. She would miss him too if she was being honest, and she figured he would appreciate every last second with her and Toivos.

In the meantime, they would both appreciate their last day together as a family before they would try to find their new normal. Jaal had made sure to be extra cuddly with Toivos for the entire day, and held Sara more tightly to his chest that night. He didn’t hide how upset this was making him, and neither did Sara even if she did figure that they were being slightly over dramatic.

This is what almost every couple did after all, and even so, they would always see each other at the beginning and end of every day. It shouldn’t be such a big deal that he would be going to work, even though it felt like it was.

Sara had never been raised to need to be reliant on another person in order to live. She had always been independent and capable in her own right, but she had also found the person that she had truly loved. She had finally realised that there was a difference in being  _ able _ to live on your own and  _ wanting _ to live on your own, and she didn’t want to. Not anymore.

Even if this was a relatively harmless change in the grand scheme of things, they were still about to suddenly be spending half as much time together as they had been for most of their time since knowing each other. That was significant, and enough to sadden them both even if this was just another step in adjusting to their new lives.

At least they took solace in knowing that they would be doing so in a place that had proven to seem supportive of them for the most part. The  _ Nexus _ had become the true melting pot of their societies coming together, where they could live among people with similar mindsets and goals. Here is where they could feel most at home and at ease, and they knew that they would be happy.


	8. Sincerely, Nexus Operations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to thank everyone who's continued to read this. I know it was a slow start, and probably got a little bit angsty and even a bit political, but it's about to get into the real happy fluff soon, which is probably what most of you came here for ;) so... yay? Thanks for sticking with me.

Today was Jaal’s first day of work. They made their way over to Operations which is where he would be working now. There had definitely been a few interested glances in their direction on their trek, but nothing more than that thanks to their security detail.

Sara almost missed the times when she would be stopped by random people just making light conversation like they used to do as she would walk around the _Nexus_ before. She craved a day where that would be possible again. Part of her couldn’t help but think that the security was just too much, but if it meant keeping Toivos safe, she would do it.

At least in Operations, they both knew that everything should be safe and as close to normal as things possibly could be. They both knew everyone that worked here, and the security to even enter this area was higher, meaning that she could actually walk around the area without her guards in tow, allowing her to feel more normal again.

She had stopped in with security first since that’s also where Jaal would be working. She said hi to Kandros, and thanked him for everything that he’d done for them as they caught up briefly. But she had already seen him recently, so she didn’t take up too much of his time.

Before she left, she made sure to give Jaal a proper goodbye as well. She brought him down into a chaste kiss, and he held his forehead to hers for a moment. Not wanting to wake Toivos, he just looked at him for a moment, still safely in the sling as he let out a dejected sigh, clearly still upset for the prospect of Sara having to leave.

“We’ll be fine, Jaal.”

“I know, Taoshay. I will just miss you.”

“So will we,” she said, finally leaning back, knowing that they both had to get on with their days.

“Please don’t hesitate to call me should you need anything.”

“I won’t, but I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“Yes, and I didn’t come along for nothing,” Sahuna piped in. “Everything will be okay, son. Now you go and show the _Nexus_ why you’re my favourite,” she said with a smile. It made Jaal smile and give a slight eye roll. Sara thought it was cute, but she probably would have been embarrassed had it been her own mother gushing to her new boss about her abilities.

They said their final goodbye’s as Sara started to walk around to greet her old friends. Her first stop was Sid. Vetra had warned her that she had told Sid all about Toivos in great detail already, and said that she was very excited to finally get a chance to meet him in person.

Sara snuck up behind her, and waited until she was well within hearing range to finally greet her from behind.

“Oh, Sidera? I hear you’ve been wanting to meet someone?”

Sid had been diligently working on something, and hadn’t even noticed them approaching. So she turned around in a bit of a surprise, especially thanks to the use of her full name. Something for which she wasn’t particularly accustomed to.

“AAH! I heard Jaal would be in today, but I wasn’t expecting you! Is that him?” she asked excitedly, pointing to the sling wrapped around Sara’s torso.

“It sure is,” Sara said, as she started opening it up to get him out. She figured he had been squished in it enough, and it might be better for her to start carrying him out in the open now that she planned to mingle with people for a bit.

“Oh my god, he’s adorable. I don’t know if Vetra told you, but I got a cat. I thought she was cute, but I think he just won me over.”

Sara couldn’t help but smile at how animated and happy she was. She wasn’t all that surprised though. Sid had always seemed very curious and easily excitable.

“He really is cute, isn’t he?”

“How could he not be! Oh my gosh, I want one.”

“What, a baby?” Sara said with a bit of a laugh. “I’m not sure how Vetra would feel about that.”

Sid just laughed at that. “No, I know I’m still too young, but he’s just so adorable. Someday though, right?”

“Well, I don’t think it’s exactly fair for me to be the one lecturing you about being too young or waiting until you’re ready, but uh, ‘do what I say, and not what I do,’” she said with a laugh.

“Wow, you really have become a mom,” Sid said with a laugh too. “You and my sister are too alike now.”

“I’m going to take that as a compliment, but I know she’d be mad at me if I didn’t at least try to discourage you while you’re still this young,” she said with another laugh. “I can’t deny that it’s a lot of work sometimes, but he’s so worth it,” Sara said while bouncing him around slightly, and smiling down at him.

“He just looks so right in your arms too. Oh, Sara, I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks, Sid. That means a lot to me. I guess I should probably be letting you get back to work though, I know how busy you are.”

“Oh wait! I knew Jaal was coming today, so I brought a gift with me,” she said as she turned back towards her work station.

“When I’m at home I’ve needed something to do, so I’ve started sewing some toys ever since people started reversing their procreation blockers. I figured there’d be a lot of kids out there soon with not much to play with. I made him one. It’s a cat. I love cats. Did I say that already?”

It was a fairly basic stuffed animal made out of a soft, felt like fabric. It was bright orange, and cartoon-like, and was surprisingly well done if Sara had anything to say about it. It wasn’t overly large, but it was bigger than Toivos was. Something for him to grow into. Sara could already picture him being a toddler holding it in the middle of the night as a security blanket after a nightmare. The thought was almost enough to make Sara cry, to know that Sid had put this much thought and effort into making something for him.

“Oh my god, Sid. This is so amazing. I love it.”

“You do?! Oh, I’m so glad. I’ve only ever seen my cat before, so I wasn’t sure how different they might be, or if I did it justice.”

“Oh, you did. This is great. I’m sure Toivos will love it too when he gets older. Thank you, so much, Sid,” Sara said, as she brought her into a hug.

“You’re welcome. And hey, keep me in mind if you ever need a babysitter.”

Sara laughed and nodded her head. She hadn’t even thought that far ahead into the future. For now they had Sahuna with them, but it was nice to know that they could easily have that resource should they need it. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, Sid. I’m sure we’ll be putting the offer to use when he gets a bit older. Thanks.”

They both said their goodbyes and Sara started to circulate a bit more. Her next stop was with Davis Qar. He basically told her congratulations but brushed her off slightly saying that he was too busy to chat. She almost wondered if he had been jealous for not being chosen to do the story about Toivos. It really didn’t matter though. Keri had done a good job, and Sara trusted her more than anyone, so she wouldn’t have changed anything.

Her next stop was with Kesh. She had already come to their apartment once to meet Toivos for herself, but Sara had still wanted to stop in and say hi. As her office doors whooshed open, Kesh saw that it was Sara immediately.

“Sara? What a surprise. I didn’t expect to be seeing you here so soon.”

Each of Kesh’s children were there with her in her office. With not many people having families on the _Nexus_ yet, there weren’t any daycares available, but work still needed to get done. Sara wasn’t surprised that this meant that Kesh just had to bring her kids to work with her.

“So is this. I definitely didn’t expect to be seeing everyone today. How are all of my godchildren doing?!” she said as she looked down at all of the tiny krogan faces that had toddled over to swarm her legs.

Sara had met them a few times. The last time was just before Toivos was born, and they had been slightly less lively then, but still seemed to recognize her. It had only been 5 months since they’d hatched, but krogan babies developed a lot faster than most other species, so they were almost fully capable walkers already, and big enough to be looking for attention, but not rambunctious enough yet to be headbutting her in the stomach.

Sara gently handed Toivos over to Sahuna for a moment so she could bend down and give them all hugs. There were 4 of them, and they had all immediately begun to climb on top of her, vying for her attention.

“Whoa, whoa, one at a time,” she said, while trying to make sure she gave each one of them a real hug before placing them back on the ground again.

“Well I see they’re all doing really well,” Sara said with a laugh.

“That they are. Each one of them is thriving. It’s more than I ever could have hoped for,” Kesh said, absolutely beaming. “Though they certainly make my job a lot harder.” Just as she had finished saying those words, one of them had run to go headbutt the window, which warranted an eye roll from Kesh. “Trying to get everything done with them around as a constant distraction has slowed me down a lot, but I wouldn’t change a thing. At least Vorn takes them half the time, so that makes it easier. How about your little one? It’s been a few weeks since I’ve gotten a chance to see him. He already looks quite a bit bigger.”

“Yeah, he is. He’s been doing really well too. He has a checkup in a couple weeks to make sure he’s making good progress, but so far he’s great.”

“Good to hear it, Ryder. It would seem that the 600 year journey has been a bit of a gift to the both of us, hasn’t it?”

Sara smiled at the thought. Of course for her, the trip had changed her life entirely, but she knew that Kesh was also referring to the fact that the amount of time they had spent in cryo had already lead to progress in healing the genophage. It wasn’t nearly enough to cure it, but strides had been made in helping repair the damage. Without this journey, neither of them would have the families that they have now, and it made Sara grateful for taking the plunge, just as she was sure Kesh must be feeling the same way now.

“It sure has. Things haven’t always been easy here, but I think coming to Andromeda was the best decision of my life,” Sara said genuinely.

“I think we’re in complete agreement on that one, Ryder,” she said, as they both gave each other a kind smile.

“Well, I don’t want to be a complete distraction for you, so I’ll get out of your way. I might be coming around for visits more often now that Jaal’s working here, so I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon.”

“Ah, that would be wonderful. We’ll see you soon then.”

“Sure thing,” she said as they both walked out of Kesh’s office.

She had been most excited about seeing the other pathfinders, but she had almost purposely been putting them off knowing that Tann would have to be included in that. She knew she couldn’t avoid him forever though, and they were the last ones on her list left to see, so she and Sahuna had started making their way over to the pathfinder headquarters.

Sara knew that Tann was well aware of everything that had happened, but he hadn’t made any efforts to contact her directly, and neither had she. She wasn’t sure if he was actually upset about everything, or if he simply didn’t care. It really could have been either knowing him. At any rate, it was time to confront him, and this way she could see all of the other pathfinders again too.

“Oh Ryder. How good to see you,” Sara was pleasantly greeted by the secretary as she entered the HQ. At least she had always proven to be a lot nicer than Tann.

“Hi,” Sara greeted her with a smile. “Listen, I know I’m not technically a pathfinder anymore, but I was hoping I could go say hi to everyone while I’m here.”

“Oh, yes of course. As far as I’m concerned you’ll always be welcome here. If Tann gives you any trouble, just let me know. I’ll deal with it.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem, Ryder. And congratulations. I see you’ve brought your little bundle of joy with you.”

“Yeah. Things are finally starting to calm down a little, so I figured it was time to show him off,” Sara said with a chuckle.

“Rightly so. Well, everyone’s here. I’m sure they’d all love to catch up with you.”

Sara nodded in acknowledgement before heading up the ramp. Sahuna had decided to stay and speak with the secretary to give Sara some more privacy.

“Good morning, pathfinders!” Sara beamed, and they all turned around from whatever it was they had been working on.

“Sara!” Valeria said in surprise, as she walked over to engulf her in a hug. She had been the least prepared for the role suddenly bestowed upon her, and had really taken to Sara and Cora when she herself had become a pathfinder. She was probably the one that was the most excited to see Sara, but everyone else came in shortly behind her to give Ryder their own hug as well. They had all been in their positions because of Sara in some way or another, and she had been there for them from the start. It wasn’t so surprising to think that they would have missed her.

Sara was holding Toivos in a way to point him out to introduce him to everyone and they all cooed over him. Sara could see that Tann had periodically kept glaring in their direction. She was trying not to pay too much attention to him while she was enjoying the time with her friends.

She knew they were busy though, and let them get back to work after briefly catching up with everyone. Valeria said a small blessing for their family, while Hayjer had told her that he was proud of her. Avitus simply said that he was happy for them.

She begrudgingly made her way over to Tann now, knowing that she couldn’t leave without at least putting in an appearance. He had seen her after all, she couldn’t just avoid him.

“Ryder,” he simply greeted.

“Tann.”

“So, I take it this is who I have to blame for making my job a lot harder, is it?” was all he had to add.

Sara scowled at him.

“Yes, I’m sorry I had a baby,” she said, sarcastically. “What do you want me to say, Tann? I’m sure you’ve been brought up to speed about everything, and how I didn’t even know.”

“Oh yes, I’m well aware. It’s just great to see that you were using one of the most sophisticated pieces of machinery that the Andromeda Galaxy has to offer as nothing more than the means to satisfy your personal gratifications.”

Sara rolled her eyes. “First of all, you better be joking. You damn well know that I took my job seriously. What I decided to do in my down time isn’t really any of your business.”

“I beg to differ, when the results of what you ‘did’ in your ‘down time’ has had a direct impact on my work. I’m responsible for the pathfinder teams, and your actions have had ramifications to all of my plans,” he said while making air quotes.

“Well, I’m sorry that my species has a sex drive. And just so you know, I happened to be deeply in love, and still am for that matter, not that you care. It wasn’t just simply for ‘personal gratifications’. Toivos may have been unexpected, but he wasn’t a mistake if that’s what you’re trying to say. I’m not going to apologise for him.”

That’s when Addison jumped into the conversation. Sara hadn’t even noticed her come in, she had been so furious.

“Alright, that’s enough, Tann,” she said with a nasty glare in his direction before turning towards Sara. “Don’t pay any attention to this old windbag, Ryder,” she said, as she directed Sara back towards the big window, hearing a huff of annoyance from behind them. “I’ll have a word with him later. For now, you just take a minute, and calm down.”

Sara tried to do just that, looking down at Toivos. She suddenly remembered what Addison had said the first day that she had seen him. There really was something about holding a baby that was calming. It helped that he seemed to have a big grin on his face, studying his mother. (It was still likely that it was just gas at only one month old, but she could pretend that it was happiness).

“I never realised just how right you were until this moment,” Sara said, turning back to Addison with a smile. “How quickly he already made me forget about Tann.”

Addison nodded and returned her smile. “Are you willing to share? I’ll admit, I saw you come in here a few minutes ago, and was hoping to get some of that baby therapy if you were willing.”

Sara nodded, and gave Toivos a gentle kiss before passing him over.

“Oh my, you certainly have grown since I’ve seen you last,” Addison spoke gently to Toivos. “What’s it been? About a month at this point, hasn’t it? The time has just gone by so quickly, it’s hard to keep track.”

“Yeah, I think it’s been about that. To be honest, it’s been a bit of a daze for me too, so I’m not entirely sure either,” she said with a laugh.

“Oh, and it’ll only get worse from now on. There will be a time that you’ll barely remember him being this small.”

Sara nodded at the sentiment, already sad for the prospect. He may only be four weeks old, but he was already growing up too fast. She could easily see the changes that had taken place, starting to develop little bits and pieces of personality.

“So, is it just the usual, or is something else going on that warranted a trip to the baby therapist?” Sara asked.

Addison let out a small sigh. “To be honest, I didn’t want to burden you with this, because I didn’t want you thinking that I’m placing blame on you, but I suppose you should at least be aware of it. Toivos has had a bit of an unforeseen ramification in terms of human survival projections.”

Sara looked over to her questioningly now.

“Don’t worry. I don’t think it’s anything serious enough to truly be worried about, and like I said, this isn’t anyone’s fault. But I think you know as well as everyone how limited our population was to begin with. There were only 20,000 humans that came on the ark, and add another 1000 that came on the _Nexus_. We project that we’ve lost nearly 3000 due to all of the circumstances since coming here, not to mention that there’s still turmoil, putting even more people at risk. Then there’s all of the outcasts on Kadara who may not even be interested in preserving humanity anymore.”

Sara was silent, trying to take in all of the information, wondering where she was going with this.

“I’m not sure how much you know about species survival rates, but it’s projected that you need a minimum of 5000 healthy and viable members in order for its survival, otherwise the genetic diversity won’t be enough. Granted, we have a bit more leeway thanks to our DNA banks, but all that being said, our numbers have done nothing but dwindle since our arrival. Even if we try to estimate approximately 15000 healthy and willing people, we’re edging hazardously close to being endangered.”

Sara looked down at her feet, finally understanding the fear of what some of the messages she had received were trying to convey. Toivos would never be a mistake. Whether it was Sara that gave birth to the first hybrid or someone else, it didn’t change the fact that he was a possibility and that people would want to have their own children from similar relationships. He didn’t really change anything, he just allowed people to realise these potentials sooner rather than later. Maybe that was a good thing even.

“Like I said, I didn’t want this to seem like I was blaming you. It’s good that we’re aware of this now, it just means we have to plan for the future,” Addison said as she looked back down at Toivos, practically having read Sara’s mind. “Because you’re certainly worth it, aren’t you,” she said bouncing him around a little, as he just looked at her curiously. “I’ve gotten word from your doctor that her services have become extremely sought after. There are a lot of inter-species couples that are interested in this right now.”

“Wow. I hadn’t heard that. Lexi’s come to us for all of our checkups so far, so I guess I haven’t gotten to see it for myself yet,” she said, sounding genuinely shocked. It made her happy, but she could see how that would add to Addison’s particular burden.

“Yes. I’m not all that surprised really. How many people back in the Milky Way would have killed for a chance like this? But it has made more work for us all here. We’ve already started coming up with plans to encourage people to have babies of their own species. Offering grants, or prioritized work placements. We’ve even started looking into an outreach to allow outcasts a way back into the Initiative if having children is something they want.”

Sara nodded along. “I can understand how this has probably made things harder. Thanks for not taking any of it out on him.”

Addison looked back at her seriously again. “Like I said, this isn’t anyone’s fault. It’s just new, and something we have to try to work out together. I don’t think anyone wants the humans or the turians to die out, but this is also something new and people are going to be excited. Really, all this means is that we have to start pushing the procreation propaganda,” Addison said with a laugh.

“People were scared, but we’re in a good place now,” she continued. “I think the desire is there for a lot of people already. As long as they know we’re safe, and we have the resources, I think we’ll be fine.”

“I’m sure Jill would love to do a story on it,” Sara said with a laugh.

“Maybe I’ll get in touch. It certainly won’t hurt matters. I’m sure a message from the Pathfinder wouldn’t hurt either, especially now that you can speak from experience.”

“I’m not the Pathfinder anymore, Addison.”

“No, maybe not the acting one. I’m sure you remember our first conversation, where I told you you had to earn that title. Well, as far as I’m concerned, you have. You weren’t only the human pathfinder, you were the pathfinder for all of us. You were the one who found everyone a home and safety. You will always be Pathfinder as far as I’m concerned.”

Sara just looked at her, surprised and a little taken aback. Addison had shown her nothing but  kindness since learning about Toivos, which had been shocking in its own right, but she never would have expected her to be so open or actually sound proud of her. It was humbling, and enough to make Sara be on the verge of crying out in public. Something for which she hated the thought of, so she choked down whatever tears were threatening to come out.

“Thanks, Addison,” She managed to get out, sounding genuinely thankful, and not overly emotional.

“Well I meant it, Ryder. And speaking of which, I’ve had some thoughts about how to put you to use. I’m not trying to rush you back into work or anything. Take time to heal and finish getting adjusted if you need it, but we could really use your expertise when you’re ready.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“I think the pathfinder headquarters could really do well with an adviser. The other species still do most of their pathfinding from right here. Having input from your experiences ground-side would be of use. Not to mention it would help having manuals and guidebooks produced for future generations of pathfinders. Interviewing prospects for second-in-commands, taking down concerns of the people and delegating them to the right pathfinder team for the job. It would likely be a bit of an anything and everything type of position, but we could really use someone like that. You still have a SAM link too, so it would make it convenient.”

 _::I would be happy to be of service,::_ SAM piped in.

Sara nodded her head, definitely intrigued, and happy for the prospect to be working with SAM again. She had slowly been working on repairing their relationship, and trying to let him know that she wasn’t upset about anything that had happened to her as a result of his actions in taking over too much of her. She missed him, and figured this could be really good for them. “You know what, I think I actually really like the sound of that.”

“Good. There’s no one else quite like you, and I think the people around here could really benefit from your advice. I’ve already talked to Tann about it. As grumpy as he was just now, he was fine with the idea. We can set up a workstation for you right in the corner there, next to the window. You can even bring this little guy with you since there’s nothing much for child care options yet.”

“So when can I start?” Sara asked with a laugh.

“Are you really that eager?”

“Well I can’t promise that I won’t be a bit distracted for a while, but getting out of the house might be nice, especially now that Jaal’s gone.”

“Alright. Give us two weeks to get everything set up. You can always start part-time, and take things easy for awhile. It’ll give yourself time to get adjusted.”

“This actually sounds like it might be perfect for me, Addison. Thanks for the opportunity.”

“You’re welcome, Pathfinder. Now I advise that you take advantage of your two extra weeks while you’ve got them,” Addison said as she handed Toivos back over.

They both said their goodbyes before Sara and Sahuna headed back home. She left with a bigger smile than she had come in with. It might not be the same as being around Jaal constantly, but now they’d be working right by each other. They’d get to be together during breaks now, and Jaal would get to come and take Toivos whenever he was able.

Sara could start to feel like she was contributing again. Not that taking care of Toivos wasn’t important, but she constantly felt guilty, and like she wasn’t doing enough to hold her place on the _Nexus_. She had been worried that she wouldn’t know how to fit into this community again, but now it was nice to feel like she was finding her place, and that she could be of some use. But more than anything, she was finding herself again, and this made it feel like every piece of her life had finally come together.


	9. Sincerely, Dr. T'Perro

It was now six weeks since Toivos was born. Sahuna had finally decided to leave them the previous night thanks to Sara starting her new job later today. Since she and Jaal would both be out of the house for most of their time now, and Toivos would still need to be around Sara for most of the day, she figured that they wouldn’t have much need for her anymore. At least not on the constant basis that she had been there for them until now.

She had already agreed to come back the moment that they wanted her help again, but in the meantime, she liked the thought of going back to the Resistance, feeling like she had new purpose on that front, and feeling like she could do good there again.

Sahuna had left the three of them in a teary goodbye, already upset for having to leave her favourite grandchild.

Before Sara could start work though, she had to take her son to one of the many checkups required of a newborn. She thought it was likely even more frequent for Toivos than a typical baby thanks to his unique status, but she would gladly take him if it meant that they would know that he was okay and developing well.

Lexi had been coming to them for all of his appointments up until now, but when Sara was scheduling this one, Lexi had stated how busy she had become, and requested that Sara come to her this time if she could.

Sara and Jaal only shared some slight hesitation to the idea. Things had seemed to calm down more and more as time went by, and they had slowly been testing Sara going out into public with the baby with no issues thus far.

In its own way, even knowing how busy Lexi was at her clinic was reassuring. Just being conscious of the fact that there were already so many other couples pursuing the chance to have their own baby made them realise that Toivos was quickly becoming a fact of reality, and not this strange and scary idea that people would want to fight over.

They had decided that they were both okay with Sara having to go for this reason. She still had her own security detail for when she had to be out in public anyway, so they figured she’d be safe enough judging by how well things had been going.

When they finally made their way to Lexi’s office, Sara could clearly see what she had been talking about. There wasn’t an empty seat left in the waiting room, filled with couples looking for Lexi’s newfound expertise in mixed species fertility.

Pretty much from the moment Sara and her guards walked through the door, the whole room had fallen silent as people stared at her in wonder.

It was incredibly awkward, and Sara just stood there for a second, before giving her best attempt at a smile and wave and muttering, “hi,” under her breath, clearly embarrassed.

That led the receptionist to greet her immediately, which was also strange, since it was usually the other way around.

“Ryder, we’ve been expecting you,” the young turian said. “Dr. T’Perro already has a room ready for you. Follow me.”

Sara just let out an awkward laugh, as she looked over the room again quickly before following the receptionist, glad to be out of that situation.

She almost felt guilty for getting special treatment, but she was sure it was for safety more so than fame or preferential treatment. Especially with how everyone in that waiting room knew who she was and seemed to be treating her like she should have been on some kind of pedestal or something. She hated the attention. She felt was misplaced to begin with, but she could at least kind of understand their sentiment. She figured that she was probably just the visual representation for all of their hopes and desires. At least it was only an awkward experience, and not a threatening one.

As they got to the examination room, the receptionist opened the door, and waved her in. “Here you go,” she said, as she ushered Sara in. “Your guards can wait outside. Dr. T’Perro requested that Professor Herick be in attendance today, just so you’re aware, and they should be here shortly.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you,” Sara said. Herick had been there for most of Toivos’ appointments, so it wasn’t all that strange, but she hadn’t been expecting him this time thanks to being at Lexi’s office. It kind of worked out though, because Sara had been meaning to talk to him about something anyway.

As fate would have it, he had been the first one to enter, so that was convenient.

“Sara, how good to see you.”

“You too, Professor. I wasn’t expecting to see you today.”

“Ah, I suppose I do probably seem out of place here, but Lexi has been asking for my help on a few cases since this is all pretty new still. She wanted to get some readings on Toivos’ immune system today, to try to see what kinds of things he might be susceptible to. That kind of stuff is more my specialty, so she figured I could be of some use at your appointment today too.”

“Yeah, that sounds important, so I definitely won’t be stopping you,” Sara said with a laugh. “Though, now that you’re here, there has been something I’ve been meaning to ask you about. I just know how busy you are, so I’ve been putting it off, not wanting to waste your time, but it is something kind of important to me, so do you have a minute?”

“Of course, Ryder. Anything for you.”

“Do you know anything about AEND?” she asked hesitantly.

“The neurodegenerative disorder? I little bit. Funny that you mention it actually. We’ve been getting some reports of possible treatments. Why?”

“What? You can’t be serious?”

“I am, but that doesn’t answer my question. Why are you asking, Ryder?”

Sara let out a sigh, and scratched her head, unsure of how to go about this. Her father had brought Ellen here selfishly, taking up a spot that someone healthy could have had. She didn’t know what the ramifications might be for that, but nothing changed the fact that Ellen was already here. If there was a possibility for a treatment, that was a good thing.

“What if I said that I know there’s someone in cryo right now who was in the end stage phase of the disease?” Sara said, still trying to keep it vague and stay hopeful.

Herick just looked surprised and started nodding, catching on to where she was going with this.

“Ah. Well in that case, I’d say I’d have to look into it more, but from what I read, the studies sounded promising. It was based off of information already discovered in the Milky Way, and cross referenced with the Heleus resources that you scanned for all of us. We’ve done that with a lot of disease treatments actually, and a lot of them showed potential.”

“Wow. You know, there were so many times I almost wanted to quit searching for that stuff it had become so monotonous and annoying. Now I’m really glad I didn’t. That sounds pretty amazing.”

“Yes, well, we’re glad you didn’t either. It’s all rather exciting. But I don’t want to be making you any promises. There haven’t been any official developments of treatment plans yet. I think we’d still need quite a bit of time to actually come up with something functional.”

Sara just nodded her head still happy with the news even if it wasn’t quite what she had wanted to hear. It was still better than she would have ever thought at this point, and keeping Ellen a secret wasn’t doing her any favours in getting better, so at least this way, maybe more progress could be made.

“Yeah, I get it. That’s okay. At least that’s something.”

Herick seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, before finally speaking again. “Say, Ryder… didn’t your mother have AEND?”

Sara just lifted the corners of her mouth slightly, in a confirming smile that didn’t reach her eyes. There really was no happiness behind it, just affirmation of his suspicions.

Herick nodded solemnly, finally fully understanding where Sara had been coming from, and went to rub her shoulder in comfort. “I’ll look into it as soon as I have the time, Sara. I promise.”

“Thanks, Professor. That would mean a lot to me.”

He nodded, as they both smiled at each other. That’s when the door finally opened again, as Lexi came in, wasting no time.

“Hello, Sara,” Lexi said, happily, giving her a quick hug, before moving to get her tools ready.

“Hey, Lexi. Man, you sure weren’t kidding about being busy, were you?” she reciprocated with a laugh, wanting to quickly move on from her conversation with Herick.

Lexi let out a small laugh and sigh, while nodding her head almost stoically. “I think that’s putting it lightly, to be honest. My practice has already outgrown its capacity. I’ve asked for more office space, and put out job offers for more doctors and staff. Thankfully Professor Herick here has been gracious enough to help me until I can manage to hire some more people to help pick up the slack.”

“Well, I don’t envy you for being this busy, but I tend to think of this as a good thing.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong. This is fantastic. It’s just come with a lot for one person to keep up with.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.”

“You know, it seems like Toivos’ arrival may have come just in time,” Lexi continued, as she was getting everything ready for his checkup.

“Oh yeah? How’s that?”

“Well, as it so happens, you were not the only one who was pregnant already, you just happened to be the furthest along. I’ve gotten a few patients that are even as far as four months gone at this point.”

“Seriously?”

“Quite,” she said with a happy nod in Sara’s direction. “They had all just gotten off of their blockers thinking that they wouldn’t need them anymore being in a mixed species relationship. They all had these strange symptoms that they couldn’t explain until they saw Keri’s broadcast, and came to me immediately. It was unfortunate that you didn’t learn about him until being in labour, but at least it prevented other people from suffering the same fate,” Lexi said with a laugh.

“Hmm, well in that case, I’m really glad we went ahead with it,” Sara said.

“Yes, it certainly was a good call. Of course those cases only make up a small percentage of my patients, but there have already been a few pregnancies that are a direct result of your broadcast, and plenty more hoping for just that soon enough. They’re definitely all keeping me on my toes.”

“Sounds like it.”

“Yes, but anyway, let’s have a look at the man of honour, shall we?” Lexi finally said, directing her attention to Toivos who was still in Sara’s sling.

“Oh yeah,” she said, finally taking him out of it.

The movement started to wake him up, and make him slightly cranky, so Lexi figured they should try to make this as quick as possible. She gently took his weight and height, and was happy that he had made good progress.

Professor Herick took a few scans, and they got Sara to hold him gently so they could draw some blood for testing. They only needed a few drops to get a proper analysis, but that still meant that they had been required to prick a spot on his foot, eliciting a cry of pain.

After Lexi was satisfied with everything they had gotten from him, she told Sara that she could start nursing Toivos now, because breastmilk had natural painkillers in it, as well as the fact that it would just be comforting to him anyway.

Sara obliged immediately, because watching her son be in pain for the first time had been enough for her to nearly want to start crying herself. She was willing to do whatever it took to get him to be comfortable again, and that was a relatively simple thing to do.

Sara just sat in Lexi’s chair, caressing his head as he suckled, and lulled himself back to sleep, while Lexi made notes on his file. Sara heard Lexi finish up and say thank you to Herick for his help, which is when the Professor excused himself, and Sara waved goodbye, before he told her that he would be in touch.

As soon as he left the room, this is when Lexi finally turned back to Sara. “Okay, so now that he’s done and out of the way, that just leaves me with you,” Lexi said with a laugh.

“What? What about me?.”

“It’s been 6 weeks now since he was born, so we should be doing your postpartum checkup, if you’re okay with that.”

“Uh, I guess so,” Sara said, hesitantly, wishing that she had been given some warning for this. She figured Lexi had probably just been too busy and forgot to mention it though.

“Great. So, first and foremost, have you resumed normal sexual activity?”

“Jesus, Lexi…”

“It’s important, Sara. I wouldn’t be asking it otherwise.”

Sara just huffed out, embarrassed, and cleared her throat, before answering. “Not exactly.”

Lexi just furrowed her brow and looked at her more pointedly, needing a straight answer out of her.

“No, okay. No, I haven’t.”

Satisfied with that, Lexi finally nodded her head in acceptance. “Well, that’s probably for the best, since we haven’t discussed birth control.”

“Oh shit, I didn’t even think about that,” Sara said, in shock.

“Yes, well, not that another baby wouldn’t be a blessing, but I’m sure you’re not exactly planning on getting pregnant again already, so I’ll prescribe you something more temporary for now, unless you were thinking permanent?” Lexi asked.

Sara just thought on that for a moment. She and Jaal hadn’t even really had time to discuss it, but she would have been really surprised if Jaal didn’t want more, and she didn’t particularly think that she was done either. Though the thought of more kids at the moment was too overwhelming to contemplate right now, but someday.

“No. Temporary sounds good,” she finally replied.

“Alright. I’ll prescribe you something, and I suggest you start taking it immediately. It should be effective as soon as you start taking it, so you can resume normal sexual activity as soon as you do so, though it doesn’t hurt to wait a day just to be safe. Most people tend to think that if you’re breastfeeding, you can’t get pregnant again, but I couldn’t tell you about how many cases of ‘surprise baby’ I’ve read about from people practicing that form of birth control,” Lexi said with a laugh.

“Hmm, well, that’s good to know I guess. I think I’ve had enough ‘surprise baby’ for a lifetime,” Sara said with a small laugh as well, still embarrassed. She waited another minute before finally asking something. “So… does this mean that enough time has passed then?”

“For what?” Lexi asked, as she sent the prescription to Sara’s omni-tool.

“To have sex? Lexi, I’ve been married for 6 weeks, and I haven’t been able to consummate it! I’m practically dying over here!” She finally said more excitedly, glad that Lexi had brought this up, even if it was embarrassing.

Lexi had to let out a laugh at that.

“Well, I’ll give you an examination to be sure, but most people at this point are ready. As long as the bleeding’s stopped, and it doesn’t hurt, you should be fine. Just take things slow and be gentle at first.”

“Okay. This is such a huge relief. Thanks, Lexi.”

“Of course. You know, I’m not just here for Toivos, right? I’ll always be here for you too,” Lexi said with a smile.

Sara huffed out a laugh. “Yeah. I guess it’s been easy to forget that with how much my life has started revolving around this little guy,” Sara said.

“Which is great, but it’s important to remember yourself too. Your well being is just as important as his, if not more so, since you have to be the one responsible for him. Take time to do things for yourself, okay. I’m always available to answer any of your questions, just give me a call if you need anything.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good,” Lexi said, with a smile.

They took the time that Toivos needed to finish his feeding as their chance to catch up. They gushed about Sara’s son in a non-medical way, which Lexi had been wanting to do for a while, and Lexi told her more about her patients - keeping everything anonymous of course, so as not to betray doctor/patient confidentiality. It had done a lot to ease Sara’s nerves, and she couldn’t wait to tell Jaal all about it.

As it turns out there was a lot that she wanted to tell Jaal about from her appointment this morning. The good news about a potential treatment for her mother was amazing, and she knew that he would be thrilled for the prospect. He would be excited for the chance to meet Ellen, even if it was only something to hope for at this point. Ultimately that was the more important thing, but Sara had to admit that she was particularly excited for the other new development.

Sara’s examination had gone well, and Lexi had assured her that she was healing fine, so she had given Sara the go-ahead to do as she pleased in her private time with Jaal.

Sara had been slightly nervous at the prospect of starting that part of their relationship again. She was worried that it would hurt, or that it would feel different. But it had been 6 weeks. That alone was enough for her to not care as much about any of that, and she was sure that Jaal would be ecstatic.

He had made it clear that Sara’s recovery was the most important thing, but she could tell that he had been missing the intimacy, even with trying to find it in other ways.

At any rate, things were finally starting to look up. Even if there were people that would still think of Toivos as a threat, it wasn’t stopping other people from pursuing the same endeavor. It warmed Sara’s heart to think he wouldn’t be the only one of his kind soon, and that there would be other people leading the charge on the fight for acceptance. But she also began to realise that maybe it was a fight that never needed to be fought as hard as she had feared in the first place.

As she left through the same waiting room, the same crowd of people now looked at her warmly, like she was their peer, rather than some untouchable prophecy. It made Sara incredibly happy, and finally gave a genuine smile to the people she passed in the waiting room.

It gave her a newfound invigoration to start her first day at her new job on an extremely bright note. She was happy for where their lives had landed them, and finally excited, rather than scared for what the future might hold.


	10. Sincerely, Toivos

It had been just under one and a half Earth years since Toivos was born. 16 months to be exact.

It had been one of the busiest times of Sara’s life, which was saying a lot. Being Alec and Ellen’s daughter hadn’t left her able to do unremarkable things for any part of her upbringing, and Heleus had proven to be no different. Her job had kept her busy, but something about doing anything with the exhaustion of having a baby in tow just exacerbated everything. Toivos wasn’t really a baby anymore though. He was a toddler now. He had been for a while even.

Time had begun to move much faster. Memories had already begun to blur. Going through Toivos’ clothes that he had outgrown had left her wondering how he had ever fit in them in the first place. He still seemed so small to her, even though rationally she knew that he had already grown so much. She was thankful that SAM still had some capabilities through her vision to have recorded the important moments, allowing her to relive the things that she had been too exhausted to commit to memory for herself. Toivos had only been a part of her life for a short time relatively speaking, but she could already barely remember a time without him.

Their family had done a lot of adjusting and developing over those short 16 months. Toivos had hit all of his milestones more or less with ease, though he always tended to be on the smaller side when Lexi would measure how tall he was and take his weight. She was never concerned though, because he was always making progress. He had taken his first steps and said his first words, and Sara had learned the true meaning of pride. He was growing and changing at a rate that was entirely scary purely for the sheer fact that too much of it had already happened and gone by with her barely noticing.

Time was fleeting. Just constantly slipping through her fingers, and everything that she felt surrounding Toivos was a contradiction. She was happy that he was growing up, and becoming his own person, and learning about the world around him, but she was sad about all of those things too, knowing that she would never get to experience any of those first times with him again.

Toivos had celebrated his first birthday with quite an extravagant party from all of his _Tempest_ aunts and uncles. Sahuna and the other mothers had managed to come, as well as some of Jaal’s siblings, but everyone would have been more surprised if they hadn’t managed it with how important family was to the angara, even if birthdays weren’t particularly important to them. To the angara, age was more of a social construct, but everyone could see that this was a pretty big milestone for Toivos and they had all wanted to celebrate regardless of that fact.

Of course the only friend that Toivos had that was his own age was Meri, and he didn’t get to see her very often, but Jill and Gil had managed to bring her with them as well. They ended up having somewhat of a combined birthday party since they were only a few weeks apart. Both of the children had been thoroughly spoiled with hugs and cuddles from everyone that was there to celebrate.

Jill always had to have a bit of a laugh at Sara’s expense every time they saw each other, remembering when they had first met and Sara thought that Jill wanted to remove her procreation blockers. It was a thought that always made Sara grateful for waiting, knowing that if she hadn’t, she very likely could have been pregnant during their push for Meridian, and she didn’t even want to think of the repercussions had that happened. They very likely wouldn’t have had Toivos, and that was a sad and scary thought to consider. Of course it was at least funny now knowing that everything worked out in the end, especially when Jill and Gil would tease her that she still had to beat them to the punch regardless of her not having reversed her blockers.

Even with the lack of other kids to play with, Toivos would always have people around him, willing to celebrate with him and give him plenty of attention. He was still little and needed constant cuddles and comfort, and neither Sara nor Jaal would take that for granted, knowing full well that a day would likely come where he would become more distant. Sara hoped that Toivos would inherit Jaal’s emotional side for this reason. Not that she hadn’t opened up, but she just loved how natural it was for the angara to be free with their feelings and not be embarrassed to show love and affection. She wanted that for her son.

Even at only 16 months old, it was easy to see that he was a gentle soul, and always curious. His favourite things to do always showed little pieces of his personality developing, and Sara and Jaal couldn’t help but see that he was the best parts of them.

He loved playing with Mr. Ham. He had done so almost every day of his life. Sara was thankful that her hamster was gentle and forgiving in his own right, as Toivos definitely had a strong grip in his younger days when he didn’t have as much control over his motor functions.

One of Toivos’ other favourite things to do was go to work with Sara and look out of the huge window by her desk. He always squished his face right up against the glass, leaving the most adorable face and hand prints, sometimes with a little trail of drool right near the bottom of the window. Sara had asked the cleaning crew to leave them when they could so she could admire them while he wasn’t with her. Toivos loved watching the shuttles flying by or admiring the stars, and Jaal would even come by often, pointing out the different planets or constellations off in the distance.

Sara had given credit for Toivos’ early infatuation with space to Jaal. When they had finally moved him over to his own bedroom at 6 months old old, he had a hard time adjusting to the new atmosphere even though it was literally the room right next to his parents. But of course he didn’t know that. Everything was new and scary, and the loving snores of his father were no longer there to lull him into sleep. Sara thought it might be because of how dark the room was, or just being scared, so she had asked Sahuna to ship Jaal’s little space holo that he had made when he was younger to use as a nightlight for Toivos.

Sara and Jaal had slept on the floor the first night after they had received it, still remembering having their first kiss under it in Jaal’s childhood bedroom. The same day that they had both admitted to having feelings for one another. That had felt like it was so long ago, and now they got to share this beautiful view with their son. It had seemed to calm him down immediately, and help him find sleep more easily. To this day, he still used it as a nightlight, and Sara and Jaal would sometimes sneak in there when they were in need of some nostalgia.

With more people having children of their own, daycares had finally begun to open, though Toivos was the only one at his daycare that was his age. Everyone else was at least 5 months behind him. The one that he went to was right in Operations, making things easier for everyone. It would allow Jaal and Sara to check in on him constantly, ever the worrying parents. Even with the daycare though, Toivos still accompanied Sara and Jaal to work often, even if it was only for part of the day. He had become a true child of the _Nexus,_ and especially throughout all of the people in Operations.

Sid came over to see him quite often. Just to sing songs with him or play with a couple of toys while she had a break. She had babysat him a couple of times, and they both really seemed to love each other. Sara always noticed a particularly jovial mandible twitch every time Sid saw that Toivos had his stuffed cat with him, clinging to it like a life preserver even when everything was fine in his little world. It had clearly made her happy to see how important it was to him, and it made Sara happy to know that that one little gift and kind gesture would play such an important role in her son’s life.

Kesh’s kids always seemed interested in Toivos and wanted to play with him, but they didn’t really know how to be gentle, so they were more or less kept apart, unless Kesh only had one of her children with her. They seemed to be calmer without the rest of the pack riling them up. Kesh tried to take every advantage to come say hi to him too though. So did Kandros, Keri, and a plethora of other people that Sara had met and become friends with during her time as pathfinder.

His _Tempest_ family tried to visit often. Scott in particular always asking to come to the _Nexus_ for most of their shore leave, trying to be there for as much of Toivos’ childhood as he possibly could.

He was a popular little man who was developing quite the outgoing personality, always the charmer, even with such a small vocabulary.

And he wasn’t the only popular little one around anymore. A lot of mixed race couples had already started having their own children as well. Hybrids had quickly started becoming the normality that she and Jaal had both craved. A lot of their fears for Toivos and his future had died down over the last year thanks to that, and other developments.

The humans and turians had started having enough of their own children as well. To the point that propagation of their respective species didn’t seem to be on the verge of being endangered anymore, just as long as the trend didn’t stop. The desire had already been there, so as soon as Jill did a news story with Sara and Keri to inform everyone that things were safe, Jill had seen a surge in clients coming to her, seeking treatment to get off of their blockers.

The only people who seemed to still have a problem with hybrids were the Roekaar, and their forces seemed to slowly be dwindling more and more as time went on. They started to see how much happier people were when they had decided to be accepting of the changes, and embracing the partnerships that had been created with the Milky Way species, and a lot of them had decided that continuing down the path of hatred was pointless.

Ultimately they were still a threat for now, but Sara could see a time where they potentially may not be. It had led them to stay away from Havarl and Voeld though, as that’s where their numbers were still highest. They didn’t want to risk an attack when they didn’t have to. It did make visiting Jaal’s family more difficult, but they had all willingly come to the _Nexus_ for them.

Sara and Jaal would likely always be vigilant with anything involving the Roekaar though, never wanting to leave themselves vulnerable should something go wrong, but for the most part, they had finally begun to relax, and be able to live comfortably on the _Nexus_ where people had common beliefs. They didn’t have to worry as much anymore, and they felt good knowing that Toivos would get to grow up living in a place that would only have good things to say about him.

On this particular night, it had been a long day of work for both Sara and Jaal. Sara had been cooking dinner because it was her turn tonight, while Jaal was watching something on the TV with Toivos. Always something educational when it was Jaal’s turn to be relaxing, but Toivos had had a long day at daycare too, so sitting in front of the TV had been well earned for everyone. Sara had been lost in thought the entire time, not paying any attention to what they were watching.

As Sara brought the plates over to the table, and called them both over, Toivos walked over to her and tried to reach up to her. He pointed to her stomach, and said “baby.”

Sara just let out a laugh and looked to Jaal, confused.

Jaal cleared his throat sheepishly, with a grin. “Ah, yes. We were watching a vid about where babies come from.”

“Ah. I see… and here I was thinking we wouldn’t have to explain that one for another three or four years at least. I suppose that was too much to ask for in this household though, wasn’t it?” she said, joking about how Jaal was so thrilled to teach anything he could to his son, even if this particular lesson involved a medical condition, which borderlined on something Jaal wouldn’t normally take on.

“Perhaps,” Jaal said with an innocent smile.

Sara just shook her head at her husband, at least finding the situation amusing, even if she couldn’t help but wonder if he had ulterior motives.

She knelt down on the floor to get closer to Toivos’ level so she could speak to him properly.

“No baby in there, buddy,” she said, patting her stomach, and lifting up her shirt slightly. “See, nothing’s in there.”

Toivos moved over to Jaal now, and pointed to his stomach too. “Baby.”

Jaal picked him up to look into his eyes before saying, “That’s not quite how it works either, my son,” with a laugh.

Toivos then looked down at his own belly, and pointed. “Baby?” he questioned his parents.

“I’m afraid not, bud,” Sara said with another laugh.

That seemed to be explanation enough to satisfy Toivos’ curiosity on the matter, quickly becoming entirely enthralled with the thought of food that he could now see sitting on the table. Jaal just set him down in his special chair that was attached to the table, while Sara looked at him with amusement.

They all had a lovely dinner, listening to Toivos and his garbled baby-talk, entertaining different ideas for what he could possibly be saying, because most of it wasn’t actually words. It didn’t matter though, he always liked feeling like he was part of the conversation regardless, and Sara and Jaal liked to encourage him.

After dinner they played for a little while, tiring Toivos out as much as possible before having to put him to bed, trying to ensure that he would sleep through the night. For the most part, he was a pretty decent sleeper, but they figured it never really hurt to tire him out more.

Sara offered to deal with the dishes so Jaal could put him to bed by reading him a story and singing songs to him under his starry night light.

As Sara finished up, she leaned against Toivos’ door frame, watching them as they were finishing up the last story, and their son was struggling to keep his eyes open.

Sara remembered a time when watching Jaal take a head shot with practiced ease would leave her shivering with excitement, not being able to wait to take him back to the _Tempest_ and have her way with him. Something about watching him as a father, being incredibly loving and nurturing, seemed to leave her in a similar state. The fun of their evening had almost made her forget about what Toivos had done before dinner, until this moment.

As Jaal got up from the bed, he saw Sara standing there, and a sheepish grin crossed his face. He quietly walked up to her, grabbing her hand and leading her back to the couch so they could relax a bit before turning in for the night themselves.

Sara let out a tired sigh, as she leaned into his side where she fit perfectly, not being able to help but think that this was home. Not some apartment, or room on the _Tempest._ It was here in his arms. The only time it could ever possibly feel more like home was when Toivos was also safely tucked away in hers.

Jaal seemed to be quite comfortable himself, as he curled in on her more, using his free hand to be placed over her stomach.

“Do you ever think about it?” he asked.

Sara looked down at his hand, already pretty certain that she knew what he was referring to, but she wanted him to say it to be sure. “Think about what?”

“Having another,” he said looking at her curious eyes.

Truth be told, she had been thinking about it a lot lately, but she thought it was mostly thanks to strong feelings of nostalgia while she was going through everything that Toivos had outgrown. She had missed the tiny weight of him on her chest as he slept, and the little cooing noises he used to make. It was emotional to look back on those memories, and she hadn’t necessarily equated that with actually wanting another baby, more than just missing those experiences.

“I hadn’t really. Not exactly anyway. Have you been thinking about it?”

He nodded softly in affirmation. “I often wonder how large our family will become. Toivos has filled me with such love and purpose, and I cannot imagine him being our only child. If you are not ready, I will not push the matter, but I would love to have another when when the time is right, darling one.”

She sat there silently for a moment contemplating, her hand over his that was still placed gently over her abdomen. She then moved out of the hold he had on her, and went to straddle his lap. She looked at him with a big grin on her face. “Where’s my birth control? Let’s go throw it out of an airlock.”

“Do you mean it? I didn’t intend to rush you by bringing this up now. It was merely at the forefront of my thoughts thanks to the vid we were watching earlier.”

“You’re not rushing things. I think I’ve just been too busy to really give the idea much of a chance to consider. I’ve always wanted more than one. Scott’s a pain in the ass, but he’s also my best friend. I want that for our kids too. Having them closer together will probably mean that they’ll be good friends. I want this, Jaal.”

He finally matched her big grin, and stood up, taking her with him, her legs wrapped around his waist, and her arms around his neck, as he walked her towards their bedroom, kissing her hungrily the entire way.

Jaal all but threw her on the bed before joining her. He moved to try to capture her lips again, but before he made contact, Sara pushed away slightly to say something.

“You know, even if I were to stop taking my birth control today, I think it’ll still probably take time for it to get out of my system,” she said with a laugh.

“Mmm, that is quite alright, Taoshay. It gives us plenty of time to practice.”


	11. Sincerely, New Life

Sara was currently marveling at the view that greeted her. She was looking at herself in the mirror. A profile view, of her mostly naked form save for her underwear, with a gently rounded curve now adorning her abdomen. She ran a hand over it in wonder, already looking bigger than she had ever gotten with her first pregnancy, and it had only been 14 weeks.

She had to remind herself that her first one was accompanied with a ridiculous amount of special circumstances though. Lexi had told her that she would likely get much bigger this time around, and much faster as well since this would be her second pregnancy, warning her that she probably wouldn’t be able to hide it for very long.

Sara still remembered that appointment well. Toivos had been 18 months old at the time, and when Sara had scheduled it, Lexi had just assumed it was going to be for one of his standard checkups. Lexi had been shocked when she came into the examination room, being greeted with a giddy Sara, all by herself, with a confession of her being pretty sure that she was pregnant again.

Even though a lot of people were finally reversing the procreation blockers, there weren’t many stores around that you could just go and buy a pregnancy test from. Even if she had wanted to venture to one of the few out there, Sara was still very recognizable, and she didn’t exactly want this news getting out yet, so she had opted to go to Lexi for confirmation instead.

At least her fears were more personal at this point. With everyone slowly becoming more accustomed to hybrids, they didn’t have to worry about this potentially being bad news to anyone anymore. They just didn’t want it going public before having the chance to tell everyone for themselves, and even more preferably to wait long enough to at least try to make sure that she and the baby were healthy before the news got out.

Sure enough, the test had come back positive. As it turns out they had been lucky, and it had happened almost immediately, only having had to try for two months. Sara figured it was probably one of the benefits of youth, but still something she wouldn’t take for granted. Lexi had then gone through everything that Sara should expect, since she hadn’t even known she was pregnant for the entire length of her first one. It was a nice change to be able to be informed.

Sara and Jaal both loved how different things were this time around. They had gone to each appointment with excitement, with the knowledge that Sara was safely growing a new life within her. It got to be their little secret. They got to see it on a scan for the first time at six weeks, and they got to hear the heartbeat for the first time at 10. It had brought back memories to when they had heard Toivos’ heartbeat for the first time. It was a stark contrast having to hear it in the rush of being in the middle of labour with him, compared to this time when they still felt like they were just learning about this new little life within her. It was a happy experience both times, but this time it wasn’t filled with the chaos of the prompt delivery of a new baby immediately afterwards.

This time they had the chance to just stay there for a moment, admiring it, and calmly letting themselves feel the emotions of what that little heartbeat meant. That their family was about to get bigger, and that their love for one another had created a new life again. It meant that Toivos was going to be a big brother, and that was an entirely new and scary thought in and of itself. They were sure he’d do fine in his new role, with his naturally gentle disposition, but they were sure that he would struggle as soon as there was someone else suddenly vying for his parents’ attention.

At this point, Sara had more than passed her first trimester with flying colours. For a fully human pregnancy, that would typically be 14 weeks, but since this was a hybrid baby, Sara was done and over with hers closer to the 11 week mark. She was grateful for that. It meant that the morning sickness had started to fade slightly earlier than it would for most humans, and she had already been more than fed up with it after the first bout of vomiting.

It had created quite a few odd glances while she was at work, and suddenly had to make a run for the nearest bathroom. Even with her first trimester being over at 11 weeks, they had decided to wait a bit longer to make it public. Sara preferred to keep things private. She had opened up to Jaal about anything and everything, but to everyone else she would likely always prefer to keep things to herself. She was basically intent on this being a secret until her pregnancy announced itself. Jaal was only okay with that since they had already told their families, both _Tempest,_ and Jaal’s.

Everyone had been ecstatic. Sahuna and the other mothers’ had wondered what had taken so long, but that was mostly just because their need for more grandchildren would likely never be satisfied enough. Scott had been really happy, and vowed to make sure that Cora would make a stop at the _Nexus_ as soon as possible so they could visit and find out more about it in person. Peebee had jokingly asked if it was planned this time, to which Sara just rolled her eyes.

More than anything though, Sara and Jaal were both just thrilled that she and the baby were doing well and growing as expected. And growing was definitely how Sara would have described it. 14 weeks pregnant and it had finally gotten to the point that she wouldn’t be able to easily hide it anymore.

It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Jaal particularly seemed to love her this way, and was excited to actually be able to see the changes taking place in Sara’s body this time around. Ever since she had even started to have the slightest hint of a bump, he had a tendency to have a hard time keeping his hands off of his wife, being ravished with the site of what they had created with their love.

For the most part, Sara was entirely fine with that, except when she had been on the verge of vomiting all day, or when Jaal was already excitedly planning the next 5 of their children. He always changed the number. Sometimes it was only 3 when he could tell that Sara was having a bad day, and wasn’t as fond of the idea. Sometimes it was 7, when he was letting his true desires slip through. Sara wasn’t so excited about the prospect of any of those numbers, being the one hunched over the toilet bowl, with aching breasts, and an exhaustion that was only intensified by having a toddler to take care of on top of whatever came with the pregnancy itself. She was sure she might feel differently when she would be holding this baby in her arms, but even with Jaal’s minimum number landing them with 5 children, Sara couldn’t help but think that that still sounded overly ambitious, and that they might both have to be willing to make some compromises in that department.

Luckily Jaal was always supportive though, and picked up a lot of the housework and extra parenting duties. He was just elated that Sara was gracious enough to give him the gift of fatherhood again. He would do anything to accommodate her discomforts and make things easier on her, knowing full well that he had the easy job in this journey of theirs.

Of course he didn’t do everything. Sara would have been upset if she didn’t still get her nightly snuggles and story time with Toivos. She would have felt guilty if she hadn’t been helping with any of the other duties too, but at the same time, she felt pretty awful in comparison to her first pregnancy, so she would gladly take the pampering when she could.

But now, as she was staring at herself in the mirror, finally done with reminiscing over the last few months, she was brought back to the task at hand. Getting dressed. Something that had begun to be more and more difficult over the past few weeks.

She had been trying to hide under her Initiative hoodie almost every day last week, but she could even tell that the fabric was threatening to start straining against her bump. She had decided to give in, and just wear something that she would be comfortable in until she could find some actual maternity clothes somewhere. That meant that she was about to be opting for sweatpants, and a t-shirt that would hug her curves, and likely leave nothing to the imagination.

She was at least thankful that her job didn’t require any sort of dress code, but even so, she usually would have worn something a little nicer looking. She was probably about to get a lot of curious eyes in her direction, but had decided to embrace it, even if somewhat begrudgingly.

Jaal would be thrilled. Sara was shocked that he hadn’t let the news slip to Kandros or anyone else that he worked with already. He had been very proud of himself for this, because it was a harder endeavor for him than it was for most people to have been able to keep this a secret for as long as he had.

She had finally walked out of their room, fully dressed, and as Jaal caught sight of her, he gasped.

“Does this mean we get to tell everyone else?”

Sara sighed and threw her head back in defeat. “Well, considering nothing else really fits me anymore, I guess we have to.”

Jaal finished pouring Toivos a bowl of BlastOHs, and Sara laughed, knowing that he would probably be a bit more of a handful today thanks to the sugar, but she wasn’t going to complain about Jaal spoiling him a bit.

He walked over to her and gave her a hug. “People will be happy for us, darling one. There is no need to be fretting over this.”

She sighed again, melting into his embrace. “I know. You’re right. I guess I’m still just getting used to how different this one’s going to be. I didn’t expect to be needing new clothes already. It’s a little frustrating.”

“It will be alright, Taoshay. We will go and find some soon. In the meantime, you look marvelous.”

She finally let out a chuckle and backed out of the hug, tugging at her clothes for emphasis. “Jaal,” she said staring at him. “I’m wearing my lazy, around the house clothes.”

He matched her smile, and moved behind her to hug her from the back this time, so he could easily feel the swell of their child. “That may be true, but these are also the clothes that show off your secret. The clothes that show the beauty of what is hiding within you. It is impossible for you to not look marvelous.”

She placed her hand over Jaal’s with a smile as she looked down at her changing form. Just when she was starting to feel self conscious, he knew exactly what to say.

Toivos had been watching them as he grabbed each piece of cereal with his little hands, giggling at them when they finally looked back up to him.

“Oh yeah, what’s so funny big guy?” Sara said, jokingly as she finally left Jaal’s arms, and went over to tickle Toivos in his little chair.

He let out the most amazing sound to their ears. The most carefree, innocent laugh they could imagine. The pure joy of simple childhood pleasures, entirely happy in his little family, watching his mommy and daddy more in love with each other now than ever before.

“I love you, Toivos,” Sara finally said, while giving him a gentle kiss on the top of his head.

“Wuv you,” he reciprocated, while trying to feed her a BlastOH.

She gladly accepted, making sure not to offend his gracious offering, letting out a, “Yum,” to make sure he knew just how much she liked it.

Jaal and Sara joined Toivos at the table after that to have their family breakfast before finally heading off to work. Sara had decided to bring Toivos with her for the morning since she was expecting that to be her slow time.

When they finally got to work, Sara put him down at his little table behind her desk. She had gotten him a little box full of toys and a tablet for drawing on in her little corner so he would always be occupied when he was there. Still more often than not, Sara would find him staring out the window in wonder. She loved to see his curious little face, totally lost in thought.

She brought out a set of rubber blocks and a few old fashioned toy cars with wheels on them for him to play with. That would likely keep him occupied for a little while, usually ending up running one of the cars along the glass as he stared out of it.

She had just gotten Toivos settled, and sat down to start work herself when she saw Addison coming towards her. Sara had gotten in early today, so no one else was here yet, meaning no one else had seen what Sara had been hiding for the last 14 weeks. Addison being the first to find out wouldn’t be the worst thing. She had proven to be very kind about this particular aspect of her life, so Sara figured that she’d probably be happy for her.

If it hadn’t already been a normal occurrence for Foster to come visit Toivos, Sara almost would have thought that Jaal had finally had enough, and had just started shouting about his newly impending fatherhood as soon as he had gotten to his workstation. But no. Addison would constantly come visit him, and slip him a candy every once in awhile. Sometimes she would take him around and show him new things now that he was getting older.

She had warned Sara that he was still at a good age where he was polite and curious, and she might not be so willing to do these things when he got old enough to start talking back or throw tantrums. Sara had just laughed, knowing full well that that stage was coming whether she liked it or not, but she was grateful for everyone taking him under their wing until that point, still surprised at just how involved Addison had made herself.

“Good morning Sara. I believe I saw Toivos accompany you this morning, did I not? I have a treat for him, if that’s alright.”

“Yup, he’s here, and I’m sure he’d love that. Jaal gave him sugar for breakfast, so the damage is already done. Spoil away,” Sara laughed out.

Toivos had been concentrating on his blocks, so Sara finally turned to him, “Hey, Toivos, look who’s here.” That finally got his attention and when he looked over at her, Sara pointed over to Addison. “I think Addy has a treat for you. Why don’t you go give her a hug.”

After he finally noticed who was there, he got up and ran around Sara’s desk to greet her, and stumbled once, falling to the floor the way that toddlers tend to do when they’re in a rush. He didn’t care though and just got right back up and continued running over to her. Addison bent down to pick him up and give him a proper hug.

“Well hello, there Mr. Toivos. How are you this morning?”

He babbled something off that sounded vaguely like a, “good, how are you,” as Sara finally decided to get up and join their conversation properly rather than continue to hide behind her desk.

Addison had barely paid any attention to her until Sara had crossed her arms under her breasts as she leaned back against the front of her desk, pronouncing her bump even more than it was already obvious. Addison had given her a quick once-over, and gave her a questioning glance, before turning back to Toivos.

“My my, Toivos, have you been keeping a secret from me? Why didn’t you tell me that you were going to be a big brother?”

“Brudor?” Toivos asked questioningly.

Addison turned back to Sara now, looking slightly mortified. “Well, hopefully I haven’t just gone and made a fool of myself.”

Sara let out a laugh at that, and immediately felt bad for Addison. “No, you caught me,” she said as she finally relaxed her arms again, moving a hand over the small swell to emphasise that Addison had been right. “Toivos just doesn’t understand ‘brother’ yet. We’ve been trying to explain it to him. He knows ‘baby’-”

And as soon as Sara had said the word, Toivos turned to his mother, and pointed, saying “baby,” in her direction. His immediate response had made Sara almost wonder how Toivos hadn’t managed to be the one to out their secret.

Addison had smiled, finally glad to know that she hadn’t just shoved her foot in her mouth. “Yes, that’s right. Are you excited?” she asked him.

He just nodded enthusiastically with a big grin on his face, still playing with a car that he had brought over with him. The thought always gave Sara a smile to know that he was happy about this. They had been showing him vids about babies to try to let him know what to expect, and he had always seemed very interested. Sara knew the reality would probably be very different when they would bring this new baby home, but she figured the happiness he always seemed to have about the idea would do nothing but help.

Addison finally put Toivos down, and brought out a large chocolate bar. She broke off a small piece for him. “Here you go. Now why don’t you go and take that back to your table, while mummy and I have a chat?”

He kind of listened, and just went to the big window while he nibbled on the chocolate. Sara expected that it would likely be melted all over his hands in a minute, and he would probably get it all over the window, but she ignored it for now, because there were more pressing matters at hand.

“Addison. Was that chocolate?! Where the hell did you get that?! I don’t think I’ve had any in more than a year, and I’ve been craving it so bad.”

Foster let out a chuckle. “Here, you keep the rest,” she said, handing it off, and Sara couldn’t help herself from taking a small piece immediately, and letting out a groan as it made contact with her tongue. “It’s just the reconstituted stuff. It’s not as good as the real thing, but there’s a store that’s started carrying it near the living quarters.”

“Ugh, I don’t even care! This is amazing.”

Addison opened her omni-tool, and sent something to Sara’s. “Well, in that case, here, have the coordinates. Now you can go and get more whenever you want.”

“Thanks,” Sara said as she finally swallowed the piece. If that hadn’t originally been intended for Toivos, she probably would have wolfed down the whole thing right then and there, but she figured now that she knew where the store was, she could get some more of her own soon enough.

“So, you’re not about to give birth are you? I still remember seeing you right before Toivos was born, and you hardly even looked like this.”

Sara laughed, as she looked down at herself again. “No. Those were all very uncommon and special circumstances I had last time. The first thing Lexi told me after confirming I was pregnant again was that I’d probably get much bigger with this one, and she was definitely right. I still have 18 weeks left.”

“Ah, well when you put it like that, you still look on the smaller side. Though, I suppose this pregnancy will be shorter than most human ones, won’t it?”

“Yeah. 32 Weeks is considered full term for me, but this is already so different than the last time.”

“I’m sure it is, but hopefully in a good way?” she questioned.

Sara laughed. “Of course, but I mean, just knowing about it at all is already better, so it wasn’t exactly a fair contest. Almost everything about this is basically a brand new experience for me though, so it’s all taken some getting used to.”

Addison nodded in acknowledgement. “Well, you’ve certainly managed to hide it well until now.”

“Yeah. I guess I finally figured that enough time had passed that it was okay to start telling people.”

“Well, in that case, congratulations, Pathfinder. This certainly is an exciting time for you.”

“It is. Thanks, Addison.”

That’s when they heard voices entering the headquarters.

“Well listen, I’ve got some free time before I really have to be back at my workstation. I have a feeling that people are going to be biting your ear off about this, making it harder to watch Toivos. I could bring him over to the daycare if you’d like.”

“You probably have a good point. Would you mind?”

“Not at all,” she said, as she headed over to pick Toivos up. “Well, Mr. Toivos. Are you ready to go to school? Say goodbye to mummy.”

“Buhbye,” he said with a wave.

Sara went over and gave him a quick kiss before waving goodbye too. “Bye buddy. I love you,” she said to him before turning to Addison. “Thanks, Addison.”

“No problem, Ryder. Enjoy what I’m sure is about to be a very exciting day for you.”

“I will,” Sara said, as she waved goodbye one last time.

As each of the pathfinders had come in, they had all taken notice of Sara’s new feature, and gushed over her briefly before Tann finally came in as well. Sara decided that she wouldn’t even bother making any official announcement to him, he could just figure it out for himself. He had at least finally gotten used to Toivos, and was mostly nice to him after having to see him frequently, but Sara knew he probably wouldn’t particularly care about this new development in her life, so she figured she just wouldn’t even bother him.

The pathfinders had all told her how excited they were for her, and congratulated her before everyone went about their days. Sara sat back down at her desk and looked over towards Toivos’ little area, already missing him this morning, only to notice a nice chocolate stain in a smeared hand print on the window. Sara just smiled at that. She would make sure to clean this mess up herself before going home, but she would leave it for now, knowing it would be her nice little distraction for the more boring or stressful parts of her day.

She was happier than she thought she’d be, finally starting to tell people. Her life had been filled with enough bad news. It was nice to be spreading something good again, and she suddenly couldn’t wait for her break, where she and Jaal had already decided to go around telling the other people around Operations that didn’t work with either of them directly. It was going to be a fun day.


	12. Sincerely, Professor Herick

It had now been two weeks since Sara and Jaal had started telling the rest of their friends about the new baby. They were all ecstatic for them. Sid had basically been bouncing off of the walls at the news, offering to help out with Toivos if they ever needed an extra hand after the new baby was born. Kesh had been incredibly happy for them too, knowing more than most how much of a gift children were.

But today was the day that they would finally be getting to see the _Tempest_ crew for the first time since Jaal and Sara had given them the news. Sara couldn’t wait. She missed them all and didn’t get to see any of them nearly as much as she would have liked.

Toivos especially was likely going to be spoiled for the whole day, because as soon as the _Tempest_ arrived, Uncle Scotty and Aunty Cora were going to come watch him.

Scott and Cora had officially been dating for just over a year now. Scott had taken his sweet time, developing more of a friendship with her before they became serious. Sara was just glad that they were happy.

Sara had brought Toivos to work with her again this morning, since Scott and Cora had been expected to come over and get him relatively early in the day. She had been talking to Valeria about something, when she finally saw them come up the ramp.

As soon as he saw his sister, Scott ran over to her, and brought her into a big hug. Sara reciprocated right away, and thought it was all just a little too sweet of her brother’s typical antics. That was right until he gave her a noogie on the top of her head.

“And there it is,” Sara huffed out as she straightened out her hair and Cora shook her head.

“What? You didn’t expect me to go soft on you, just because you’re pregnant did you? And Jees, speaking of, you look like you’re about ready to burst.”

Sara rolled her eyes, greatly preferring the loving and nurturing version of Scott that she got to see during big life events. Apparently this was just the regular little brother version that had been itching to bother her.

“So where’s the little man?” he asked, not even waiting for a response, looking behind Sara’s desk. “Ah, there you are, big guy. Look! It’s uncle Scotty!” he said, as he bent down with open arms. Toivos came running to him immediately, giggling, and Scott gave him a good throw over his head before catching him, and walking back over to Sara and Cora.

“Don’t listen to your idiot brother, Sara,” Cora said, while she gave her a hug, “You look amazing.”

“Thanks.”

“You really do, sis… but I’m the one that gets to push your buttons, so I wasn’t going to say it,” He said with a smile.

“Uh huh. Well you guys look pretty good yourselves. I hope the trip out here was okay.”

“Yeah, it was great. I know the rest of the crew is really excited to see you guys too. I think Suvi was planning a dinner at your place tonight if you were okay with that,” Scott said.

Sara gave a questioning grimace. She loved Suvi, but the woman couldn’t cook to save her life.

“Don’t worry, she’s bringing Drack with her. He’s been teaching her some new tricks. She’s not as bad as she used to be,” Cora said with a laugh, remembering the worst of her experiments that Scott had been lucky enough to miss out on.

Sara immediately turned her frown into a smile. “Oh. Well in that case, that sounds perfect. I can’t wait to see everyone.”

“Great. We’ll let her know in a bit,” Scott said.

“Sounds good. So what do you guys have planned for today then?” Sara asked, curious as to what they had planned for their time with Toivos.

“We heard that a new playground opened up in the gardens. We figured we’d start there. Then we’ll probably show him around the _Tempest_ for a bit, and maybe even take him on a quick shuttle ride around the _Nexus_ , if that’s alright?” Cora asked.

“Yeah, that sounds perfect. He loves that playground, and I’m sure he’ll love everything else too, but he’ll probably need a nap in the middle of the day at some point, so just keep that in mind if he starts getting cranky.”

“Great,” Scott said, while handing Toivos off to Cora. She had taken him much more easily than the first time she had held him, having had a few chances to get used to it since then. “Sounds like a plan then.”

“Good. Because I have a lot of work to do, and I have a feeling today’s going to be busy.”

“What? Trying to get rid of us already?” Scott said, jokingly.

“Well, mostly just you,” Sara said, with a laugh. “But I really am busy today, and I’d like to get everything done as soon as possible so I can go see the rest of the crew,” she said more seriously.

“Well in that case, I think we should go say hi to Jaal quickly before going,” Cora said, looking to Scott for confirmation.

“Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll catch up in a second though, okay? I just want to talk to Sara for another second.”

“Alright,” Cora said, while looking to Toivos and waving to Sara. “Bye, mommy,” she said, trying to entice Toivos to do the same, and clue him into the fact that they were leaving.

“Buhbye,” Toivos said as he waved.

Sara came over and gave him a quick kiss. “Bye, buddy. I love you. You’re going to spend the day with Aunty Cora, and Uncle Scotty, okay? I’ll see you tonight.”

He just waved at her again, seeming totally satisfied with the explanation.

“Alright, see you tonight, Sara,” Cora said, as she turned to walk away, and Sara just nodded at her as she left.

Scott waited until she was out of earshot, before speaking again.

“You really do look great, Sara,” Scott finally said more calmly than when he had greeted her.

“You didn’t just stay behind to tease me about how big I’m getting, did you? Because if you did, I’ll kick out right now. I may be pregnant, but I can still do it.”

Scott laughed at that, knowing he deserved it. “No, no. I mean it, sis. You look good. I was just thinking about how much our lives have changed. I mean, you’re about to have another baby. That’s awesome,” he said, finally getting a smile out of her. “And then there’s me, about to be engaged.”

Those words had taken a second to sink in. “Wait, what?! Really?”

Scott laughed. “Well yeah, but don’t get too excited. I haven’t asked her yet.”

“What? You’re not worried she’ll say no, are you?” Sara said, jokingly. “Wait… I guess it is you she’d have to agree to marry. Maybe you should be worried.”

“Oh, fuck off, Sara,” Scott said with a laugh.

Sara gasped, in feigned indignation. “Don’t swear around the baby.”

He just shook his head, as they both laughed.

“Don’t worry, Scott. She’ll say yes. As much as you’re a pain in the ass, you’re a good guy. I know she loves you.”

“Thanks, Sar.”

“Well, I mean it. This is pretty huge. When do you think you’ll do it?”

“I was thinking about taking her camping the next time we’re ground-side for a while. Wait till the stars are out, sitting next to a fire. She’s been wanting to do that for a while.”

“That really does sound like something she’d love. This is a really big step for you guys. I’m really happy for you.”

“Thanks, sis,” he said, with a genuine smile.

“So, are you nervous?”

Scott just leaned against the desk, and crossed his arms, thinking for a moment. “Not really. It just feels kind of natural to be with her, you know. I love her, and to be honest, we’ve already talked about it a bit too, so that probably takes away a lot of the nerves.”

“Yeah, well I would hope so. I’m glad you guys are serious. I might have chosen her if you ever broke up, you know,” Sara said with a laugh.

“Nice, Sara,” Scott said with an eye roll. “So what about you? You nervous?” he said, pointing to Sara’s belly, which enticed her to look down at herself, and run a hand over her stomach.

“No. I kind of already know what to expect with this,” she said with a laugh. “I know it’ll be different having two of them. I’m sure it’ll be harder, but jees, Scott. I don’t even have the words to describe how much I love Toivos. It’s so amazing to watch him discovering his world around him and watch the little person he’s becoming. It’s really something else.”

Scott smiled at her, happy for his sister, and how her life had turned out.

“Do you remember when mom would always say ‘I love you,’ and then we would respond with, ‘love you more,’ and she would always say ‘no you don’t,’ with that big annoying grin on her face?” Scott asked.

Sara laughed, remembering that they had all, in fact, said that quite frequently throughout their life. “Yeah. I know we didn’t understand it at the time, but she was right you know.”

“Damn. I hate it when we actually learn that our parents might have been on to something,” Scott said with a laugh.

Sara shook her head, with a smile on her face. “Yeah, well, she knew what she was talking about with a lot of things. She’d be really happy for you. Knowing that you’ve found love.”

Scott nodded his head, “Yeah. She’d be happy for you too, sis.”

“I know,” she said, as they both heard huffing coming from the direction of the ramp. They both saw that it was Professor Herick, seemingly rushed to come find them.

“Oh… good… glad you’re both…. here.”

Sara and Scott both came over to him now. “Hey, calm down, Professor. Take a minute to catch your breath.”

He just nodded as he hunched over and took a few deep breaths.

“My team has had a breakthrough, and I was on my way to see you, when I saw the _Tempest_ in port. I was hoping that might mean that I’d run into both of you,” Herick finally said.

Sara was suddenly very hopeful for what this meant. She normally might have been worried that it had something to do with Toivos, but if he wanted to see Scott too, then this probably had something to do with their mother.

She had told Scott about getting Herick involved with their mothers disease and progress the day after talking to him at Lexi’s office. That was almost two years ago at this point though. The professor had tried to give her updates whenever he could, but they were always few and far between, and never came with the news that she had truly been waiting for. She tried not to pester him too much and just let him work, knowing that he was busy and looking into it as more of a favour, so she didn’t want to make his life harder if she didn’t have to. But seeing him now, running towards them like this, she couldn’t help but get her hopes up.

Sara and Scott both just looked at the Professor expectantly, waiting for him to continue as he took another few breaths to calm himself down.

“We’ve found a cure!” he finally said with a big grin, excitedly. “Not even a treatment. A cure! We can start administering your mother with it right away.”

“What?” Sara gasped out, while covering her mouth, her eyes already welling with tears.

Scott just stared at him, mouth agape.

“Yes,” he confirmed, still happy. “Though, there’s one problem. You mentioned that she was end stage. May I ask how much time she had been given before being placed in cryo?”

Sara just looked to Scott, clearly not being able to talk right now, and Scott was still reeling from the information. It took him a second to try to think clearly and remember back to that time.

“Uh… It was days at most, but more likely hours. We pretty much thought we had said goodbye to her on her deathbed.”

“Ah,” Herick said, nodding and trying to figure something out. “That does complicate things, but I think we can manage it. It does mean that it will take longer to administer though. We can’t treat her in cryo, because her body is in stasis. The cure wouldn’t do anything until her body’s processes are awake and able to put it to use. We don’t want her dying before the cure can take effect, so we’ll likely have to do a treatment involving a slowed withdrawal from cryo while we start administering the cure, reversing as much of it as possible before waking her fully.”

Sara just started outright crying, and the other pathfinders had finally come to her side, making sure everything was okay.

Professor Herick grabbed onto her shoulders gently, in a combined effort to try to comfort her, and to get her to look at him, still with a big smile adorning his face. “It’s okay, Sara. This is a good thing. I have faith that we can bring her back,” he said, trying to reassure her.

She couldn’t do anything but nod at him, fully understanding that this was a good thing, but she was just completely overwhelmed with emotions. The pregnancy was surely not helping in that department.

Scott just moved to hug her tightly, as they both calmed down.

“We can start treatment immediately.”

They all just stood there for a moment before realising one small problem.

“She’s on the _Hyperion,_ ” Scott finally said somewhat dejectedly.

“Ah, well I suppose that should have been expected. It would be easier for us to do the treatment here, since this is where all of our equipment is.”

“Of course,” Scott said. “Maybe I can convince the team to take the _Tempest_ to go get her. I’m sure Cora would be okay with it. She knows how important this is to us.”

Sara nodded, still regaining the last of her composure.

“Well, I guess my shore leave has probably just been cut short, then hasn’t it?” Scott said with a smile, as Sara wiped away a tear and laughed. “The _Tempest_ is still grounded for today to be restocked and refueled, though, so I don’t think any of our plans will change, but I’ll try to make sure we can leave as soon as possible. Just think, Sar. Mom might actually wake up before you have this baby.”

She had finally calmed down enough to respond, even though there were still tears in her eyes. “Yeah, and maybe she’ll get to be around for your wedding then too,” Sara said with a big grin.

They both just smiled at each other as Scott gave her another hug, and the other pathfinders congratulated them over the good news. Sara had already entrusted them with the knowledge of her mother’s existence a while before this had happened, so they were all truly happy for her.

Sara and Scott had both contemplated at how this couldn’t have happened at a better time. Well, Sara may have preferred it if she could have been around for Toivos’ first two years too, but this was still pretty amazing, and she would gladly take it.

The other pathfinders had offered to take over Sara’s tasks for the day, seeing how much this was affecting her. It was a good thing, but they could all see that this was a time for them to be celebrating, and it also meant that her _Tempest_ family wasn’t going to be here for as long as they had planned. They would gladly do this for her so she could spend more time with them while they were here. Sara was glad for that because she didn’t particularly think that she would be able to get much work done under these new circumstances anyway.

It had felt like a lifetime had gone by since seeing her mother. So much had happened, and so much had changed. She suddenly realised that a lot of it wasn’t good. Ellen’s awakening would come with a lot of knowledge that she likely wouldn’t be prepared for. It might not all be easy, but she would gladly take the opportunity. She was sure that her mom would still be happy in the end to be able to be alive and healthy, and getting to see her children flourish. All that mattered is that she at least had the chance to do all of those things now, and Sara and Scott would be there for the whole thing.


	13. Sincerely, Ellen

It had been three whole months since Professor Herick had come to Scott and Sara with news of a cure for AEND. The first week had been simply to retrieve Ellen from Meridian, and the other 11 had been used for what seemed like a gruelingly slow treatment process as they carefully took her out of cryo to ensure that her disease wouldn’t kill her before the cure could be successful.

Those 11 weeks had been some of the most impatient weeks of Sara’s life. Of course she could barely contain herself with every day that went by that brought her closer to seeing her mother again, but they had also brought more and more growth of the new life within her. It was an exciting time in her life.

She was now 28 weeks into her pregnancy. That was about as far as she had ever made it with Toivos, though Lexi had told her that even though Toivos was that early, it didn’t necessarily mean anything for when Sara should be expecting to give birth this time around. She technically still had a whole month left to go, and the longer the baby spent inside of her, the better.

Sara was fine with that. Mostly. She would never want to willingly risk the health of her child, but that being said, she was feeling about ready to be done with this. She felt huge, and was constantly in pain and uncomfortable, and had no idea how normal humans put up with this for 12 more weeks. She figured she’d count her blessings and be happy that she only had 4 more left.

At least she got to enjoy the good aspects of pregnancy this time too though. She finally got to feel her child moving within her. It was strange and not quite what she was expecting. It was weird getting used to something else taking safe harbour in her body that had a mind of its own. She never would have expected something so small and seemingly insignificant to be able to provide such a bonding experience. She felt like she was already starting to get to know this new baby, and love it, which was surprising. It had all been so different than her first pregnancy, and she was grateful for this extra time, even if it did often leave her uncomfortable.

Jaal was finishing with the dishes as he had all but forced her to go lounge on the couch, knowing that her back had been sore. He was just humming away a song from one of Toivos’ favourite vids, and Sara laughed at how easy they were to permeate your brain, sympathising with her husband.

Professor Herick had just given them the news that Ellen would be ready to be woken up tomorrow. They knew it would be soon, but that had been somewhat unexpected. Scott had been staying on the _Nexus_ for a while already, knowing that the team in charge of Ellen’s care was getting close, not wanting to miss it.

Sara had been really excited about seeing her mother again, but after listening to Jaal, she suddenly got worried, realising they hadn’t discussed how they were going to deal with the whole situation. She knew that Jaal would likely want to join her. She had been so happy that she had all but forgotten the fact that her mother wouldn’t even know that they were in Andromeda, much less anything else that would come with that news. She let out a big sigh, knowing that she had to have a conversation with Jaal, hoping that she wasn’t going to upset him.

As she heard him finish up with the dishes, she finally stood up slowly from her position to join him, arms propped on her back to help support her newly added weight.

He just walked over to her with a big smile on his face, and enveloped her in a hug which she had reciprocated easily. He was always so happy lately. Sara loved it, and normally fed off of it, but she couldn’t in this particular case, knowing that she was probably about to ruin his good mood. She backed out of the hug so she could speak to him properly.

“Jaal, we should probably talk.”

“Uh oh,” he said jokingly with a smile still plastered to his face. It was thanks to another one of Liam’s ill advised lessons on human sayings. He had told Jaal that if Sara ever said she ‘needed to talk’, that it would probably mean something bad for their relationship. Every time Sara had ever said those words to Jaal, he always reciprocated with a joke. In reality, this time was probably one of the only times that Sara actually said those words knowing bad news would follow, so she didn’t mirror his smile.

She let out a sigh before continuing. “I hope you know that I love you and Toivos more than anything in this universe, so please don’t be offended when I say this, but I think I should go alone to see my mom tomorrow.” She hated the dejected look that had immediately elicited from him, so she quickly went to hold his hand and get his attention, and try to assure him that she didn’t mean to hurt his feelings.

“Listen to me. I know for a fact that my mother will love you just as much as Sahuna and your other mothers love me. She’ll be so happy to know that I’ve found someone to share my life with. It was the one thing she truly wanted for Scott and I. To fall in love and be happy. But that doesn’t change the fact that this will be a huge shock for her. She’s going to wake up wondering why she hasn’t died yet, or if she’s about to at any second. She’s going to wonder where my dad is. She has no idea that she’s not in the Milky Way anymore. She has no idea that Angara exist, or that someone like Toivos is even a possibility. Interspecies relationships were hardly rare, but they were never capable of producing their own offspring before,” Sara said, letting out a huff, upset that this made Jaal feel bad.

“She’s probably going to think that Scott and I are still 20 years old, standing over her deathbed,” Sara continued. “Everything is going to be so shocking for her right now, not to mention the more simple and easily explainable things like the fact that I’m married and already have a child. As well as the fact that I’m very clearly about to have another one,” she said, as she ran her free hand over her very obvious bump. So obvious that it was still hard for either of them to get over the differences from her first pregnancy.

“She’s just going to have so much to have to get used to all at once. All I’m asking is to give her some time.”

Jaal finally joined his hand with hers over their child. “I’m sorry, Sara. I am just excited to finally be able to meet the woman who raised you. Of course everything you’re saying makes perfect sense. I think I was just getting ahead of myself.”

“Not at all, Jaal. You have no idea how much I want you to meet her, and how happy I am just to know that you’re excited about it too. I didn’t know if this day would ever come, but now I can’t wait for you to finally have the chance. I just don’t want to overwhelm her while she’s getting her bearings, you know?”

“Of course, Taoshay,” he said, pulling her forehead to his lips, adorning it with a gentle kiss, before joining his forehead to hers, and moving his arms around Sara’s back, engulfing her into a hug. “The most important thing is for her to adjust and heal. There will be plenty of time to welcome her into my family when she is ready.”

Sara brought him into a deep kiss then to show how much she appreciated his willingness to be patient. He reciprocated for a minute before sweeping her off of her feet into a bridal style carrying position.

“Jaal! What are you doing?!”

“Mmm, what do you think? I want to devour you. Toivos is sleeping soundly. We must not put this time to waste,” he said, looking down at his wife with a big smile spread across his face, as he walked them towards their bedroom, which had elicited a laugh from Sara.

“Mmm. We couldn’t have that, now could we,” she said, glad to see that Jaal wasn’t really offended. He set her down on the bed gently as their bedroom door closed behind them.

~*~*~

It was finally the next day. Sara had barely slept. Part of that was due to their lovemaking, as Jaal was still having a hard time keeping his hands off of his wife. Sara had gladly obliged, happy to have the intimacy with him before this new baby would arrive. It had turned into something different than they were used to, now that Sara’s abdomen had gotten large enough to be in the way. Instead of their normally overly enthusiastic, frenzied chance to get any time alone together, it had become soft and slow as Jaal gently took her from behind, lying on their sides. It was nice to be enjoying each other while they could, and Sara was glad for the distraction.

Her lack of sleep was also due to a lot of other things. Partially from Jaal keeping her company afterwards as she couldn’t stop talking about everything that she wanted tell her mother, or about the things she wanted to do with her or show her after she recovered more.

When she had finally become tired enough to sleep, their child seemed to think that would be a particularly good time to start waking up and kick her incessantly. At least that hadn’t ended up lasting too long, so she had managed to get some sleep at least. It still probably was nowhere near as much as someone in their 28th week of pregnancy should be getting, but she would take it given the circumstances.

As the morning came, she found that it didn’t particularly seem to matter anyway. She had been so excited and nervous now that she didn’t feel the tiredness in the least. She and Jaal had taken the week off from work, so she could just go home and nap as soon as Ellen would need more rest anyway.

Ellen’s treatment was done at this point, but thanks to the prolonged process of taking her out of cryo, and undergoing the rigorous administration of the cure this whole time, she would likely need to stay in hospital for a little while as she regained strength and they made sure that the treatment had actually worked.

Sara had met up with Scott in the waiting room where they shared an emotional hug that was filled with anticipation.

Professor Herick finally came out to find them, and escorted them to a private room where they had managed to get Ellen into a comfortable position for her to wake up in, finally out of the special equipment that they had to keep her in for the past 3 months.

Scott and Sara both just stood at the foot of her bed for a moment, in shock at the sight of their mother. They had known she had been there this whole time, but this was the first time that they had actually gotten to see her face again. She didn’t look pale or sickly like they thought she might. She looked vibrant and healthy. The way that they had liked to remember her. That had to be a good sign that her treatment must have been working.

Professor Herick had told them that he had been using a muscle regeneration therapy along with it, to ensure that she wouldn’t need physical therapy after waking as well, but that there was nothing that he could do to prevent the mental shock of what was about to happen to her. He warned them to be prepared for the possibility that she might be scared, or at the very least confused. They just nodded in acknowledgement, both of them finding it hard to speak.

“Are you ready?” Herick asked, moving to Ellen’s side where the IV was placed. Her official doctor was there too, should anything go wrong, and to be there to help with the procedure to wake Ellen up.

Scott and Sara each moved to opposite sides of her bed, so they could both see her up close as soon as she regained consciousness.

“Yeah,” Sara finally said, nodding at Herick.

He grabbed a syringe and injected it into Ellen’s cannula. “Alright. No going back now. The reaction’s pretty quick, but it should still take a few minutes before she’ll start to wake up.”

Scott just glanced in Sara’s direction, hard not to notice the huge change to her frame, wondering if it might cause Ellen more panic. “Hey, Sara? Maybe you should sit down or something.”

She looked at him questioningly, seeing him nod towards her engorged stomach, trying to make it obvious what he was referring to, which made her look down at herself. Of course. She was huge now, how could she have forgotten. She and Jaal had even talked about this the night before. She figured she had just been too excited to be thinking about it in the moment. She quickly grabbed the chair from the head of Ellen’s bed, and brought it to the side, before sitting in it, and moving to hold Ellen’s hand.

Scott then sat on top of the bed on Ellen’s other side, as they both silently watched her face, looking for any signs of her starting to wake up.

The doctor and the Professor were just standing off to the side as politely as possible while continuing to monitor the equipment readouts to make sure that nothing was going wrong, just waiting on standby should they be needed for anything.

Scott finally noticed Ellen’s eyes moving beneath her eyelids, and Sara felt the slightest change in Ellen’s grip on her hand. They both watched intently as she started to come to, her eyes slitting themselves open slowly to protect herself from the light.

They both wanted Ellen to know that they were there for her, so Sara just held onto her hand tightly, finding it difficult to speak, while Scott placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Mom,” he said, gently. “It’s Scott. Sara’s here too.”

That was enough to get her to try to open her eyes more, blinking away the blurred remnants of sleep, still squinting slightly from the bright light, until Scott finally moved to create a shadow over her face, giving her a chance to focus on him.

“Oh, my boy. There you are,” she said quietly, looking into his eyes, seeing a smile that she hadn’t been expecting. As far as she knew, this was supposed to be a sad time for them.

“Yeah, we’re right here,” he said, not really knowing where to start, just happy that she was waking up, and okay.

Ellen could hear crying coming from her other side, finally looking over to see Sara with tears running down her cheeks, trying to quiet her sobs.

“Sara. It’s okay, sweetheart. Come here,” Ellen said, squeezing her daughters hand.

Sara just shook her head, and looked to Scott, knowing that if she stood up, and her mother noticed the changes that had taken place, that might soon start a panic. She couldn’t stand it, and just covered her eyes with her free hand, leaning her weight on it for a second. The need to hug her mother was overwhelming, and the sobs just became worse.

“It’s okay, Sara,” Scott said, which finally got her to look at him again, as he kind of nudged his head in their mother’s direction, encouraging Sara to give her a hug. He had previously had the same fears, knowing that seeing Sara’s condition would probably leave Ellen with a lot of questions, but Sara not reciprocating a hug under the circumstances would probably be just as questionable.

Sara finally got up, trying to move quickly, so as not to give her mother the chance to get a good look at her yet. She brought the older woman into her arms, hugging her firmly but gently, placing her face in the crook of her mother’s neck, making it impossible to not take in her scent. She still smelled the same. After all this time. It was a smell that she had missed dearly. It wasn’t something that she had expected to linger on after her mother’s passing, but it had ended up being a surprising comfort during the difficult times.

Alec had given Sara one of Ellen’s old sweaters after trying to clean out their closet. Sara had found that it hadn’t been washed, and it had retained her smell. She had kept it in a special place in her own closet to make sure that its scent had never gotten confused with hers. She would hug it from time to time when she had been having a particularly hard day. The smell had always made it seem like her mother was actually there.

Sara clung to those memories in this moment, almost making her question whether this was real. But it was real. Sara could feel the warm breaths permeating the cloth on her shoulder, and the weight of her mother’s hands on her back. She was here. She was real.

It made Sara sob even more, upset that she wasn’t able to hold herself in check, wanting nothing more than to say something to her mom. Anything at all, other than crying. She knew that was probably just reaffirming her mother’s own fears of thinking that she was probably about to die, not understanding that the tears coming from her daughter were ones of pure happiness and not grief. Not the same ones that Sara had already shed for her over the last 5 years.

She heard the gentle shushing that mother’s tend to do while holding their crying children. The attempt to lull them into comfort. It was a natural response. Sara had used it herself with Toivos so many times already throughout his short life. It was just a reminder of everything that Ellen had already missed, continuing to make things harder for Sara to speak.

Ellen finally started to move her hands down Sara’s back in a slow attempt to relinquish the hug, but as they fell down around Sara’s sides, she finally noticed something different about her daughter’s frame. Something large, and in the way. It made Ellen gasp, trying to look down to confirm her suspicions. “Sara?” she finally questioned, voice suddenly filled with confusion. She didn’t need to elaborate, since Sara had felt her mother’s hands still adorning her sides.

Sara tried to blink away some of the tears as she stood up slowly, not even bothering to hide it anymore.

Ellen just gasped again, not sure how this could have been possible. She took a better look at her children then, finally realising that they hadn’t been wearing the clothes that she remembered. Sara’s hair had gotten longer, and Scott’s beard was fuller. She noticed a ring on Sara’s finger, which made her gasp again, but also kind of made sense thanks to the other new feature that Sara had acquired. More than that, she finally realised that she was in entirely new surroundings. This was still a hospital room, but not the one that she had remembered. The doctor’s were different. Nothing at all was the same.

“What?” Ellen finally said, lips trembling, trying to make sense of everything. “Sara?” she questioned again. “How?” she said, still trying to understand. Sara was still finding it hard to speak, so she looked over to Scott.

“Mom,” he said, while grabbing her hand for solidarity. “I know you probably have a lot of questions. We have a lot to catch you up on too, but the most important thing for you to know right now is that you’re okay. You’ve been in cryo, and the doctor’s have been treating you slowly. You don’t have AEND anymore. You’re not dying.”

“What?” was all she was able to say again, as she looked at her son, seeing nothing but genuine happiness in his eyes. It made his smile from earlier make more sense. Then she looked at Sara again, taking in her full form with more clarity. “My god. How long has it been? How much I must have missed.”

Herick took this chance to prop the bed up in more of a sitting position to allow everyone to be a bit more comfortable. Sara nodded to him in thanks before he and the doctor excused themselves so the family could have more privacy, finally being satisfied that everything was fine for the time being. There would be time for more tests later, and informed them of the call button beside Ellen’s bed should anything go wrong.

“It’s been 5 years,” she finally managed to get out. “Well kind of. It’s a long story. But that doesn’t matter right now. The point is we have plenty of time to catch you up. The important thing is that you get to be here for the rest of it.”

Ellen just smiled at Sara, proud at how much they had already seemed to have grown in their relatively brief time without her. “I suppose you’re right. It appears as though you’ve managed it with perfect timing,” She said, placing her hand over Sara’s abdomen, Sara holding it there more tightly with her own, moving it to where her child had been kicking her all morning. “I take it, I’m about to be a grandmother?” Ellen asked, curious to know about everything. There was simply too much that needed explanations though. She decided to grasp onto the happier questions for now.

Sara just screwed up her face in uncertainty, not really knowing what to say.

“Yeah, about to be,” Scott huffed out sarcastically, before Sara had even gotten the chance to explain. He was trying to make light of the situation, which made Ellen glance back to him, confused.

“What? You don’t already have a baby, do you?” she asked Scott.

“No, not me,” he said, with a big dumb, teasing grin, looking back at Sara again.

“Sara?” she questioned, looking back to her daughter.

“You’re already a grandma, mom. I have a son. He’s already two years old.”

That was enough for Ellen to start crying. She took the hand that Scott had been holding, and quickly covered her mouth, as tears began to well in her eyes.

“Oh, don’t do that. You’re going to make me start crying again, mom. I’m super emotional right now,” she laughed out, more tears gathering in the corner of her eyes.

That made Ellen laugh at least, forcing the tears to streak down her cheeks. She gently wiped them away, and sniffled slightly, but with a smile on her face now.

“So where is he? Did you bring him?”

Sara just sighed at that. “Not today. We figured you’d already have a lot to need to get adjusted to. I know you’ll fall in love with him immediately though.”

“You really will,” Scott said with a genuine smile that Sara reciprocated.

“I’ve been telling him about you. He seems very interested,” Sara continued.

Ellen just nodded, understanding that they may have been worried. “Well, I can’t wait to meet him.”

Sara reciprocated her nod a little more warily. “There’s something you should probably know though,” Sara said hesitantly, looking over at Scott again, trying to draw some strength from him, knowing that this next bit of information would likely be even more shocking than knowing she had been asleep for five years and that her children had moved on significantly with their lives.

Scott just nodded to her, encouragingly. “So, it’s actually been a lot longer than 5 years. Technically it’s been 639, but we were _all_ asleep for the journey over here.” She paused for a moment before continuing, “We’re not in the Milky Way anymore, mom.”

Sara just made sure to go slowly, with the information, making sure that Ellen was truly okay. She definitely looked a little more agitated with that news, but was holding herself together relatively well, silently awaiting more information.

“We’re in Andromeda, and this is important to know, because when you meet my family, they’re probably going to look quite a bit differently than how you’re probably picturing them right now.”

Sara knew that the experience of meeting a new species wouldn’t have been anything new to Ellen. She had been old enough to remember a time where they thought that humanity was alone in the universe. She had been a young adult herself when they had made first contact with the Turians, and even remembered her own times of war. She remembered what it was like to suddenly be thrust into this bigger universe that was shared with other intelligent beings, and she was always open to wanting to be a bigger part of the galactic community, despite their troubled first contact. Sara knew that Ellen didn’t have a bigoted bone in her body. She wouldn’t be upset that her daughter had married and had children outside of her species, but it would still likely come as quite a shock, knowing that this sort of thing had never been a possibility before.

“You’re not telling me what I think you are, are you?” Ellen managed to get out, finally relinquishing her hand from Sara’s abdomen, instead just holding her daughter’s hand that had been lying on top of it for now.

Sara nodded her head in affirmation. “When we came here, we met a new species. The Angara. One of them joined my crew-”

“Your crew?” Ellen asked, genuinely confused. Her daughter was still so young, and had only been in peacekeeping before. She hadn’t ever led something, much less a crew of anything.

“Um… yeah. It’s a long story, probably best saved for another day. But anyway, Jaal. He joined my crew. We became really close. We fell in love,” that last line made a genuine smile form on Ellen’s face, “we got married, and had a baby.”

Scott just cleared his throat, laughing that Sara purposefully fudged the timeline of events.

Sara shot him a quick glare before continuing. “Okay, so it may not have happened quite in that order, but the important fact is that we were always in love,” Sara said, embarrassed, as Ellen finally let out a laugh at how her adult daughter still expected to be treated like she was about to be scolded by her mother for something.

“Yeah, and that’s definitely a story that you’ll have to ask her about later,” Scott said with that big dumb grin of his, still pushing Sara’s buttons.

Ellen looked back to her daughter, wide eyed, with a questioning smile.

Sara cleared her throat, not even wanting to go down that road yet, “Yeah, that’s another long story that we’ll save for another day. But the shortened version of it is that I may be solely responsible for everyone realising that our species were genetically compatible in the first place.”

“Oh my, well that certainly does sound like an interesting one,” Ellen replied.

“You could definitely say that again,” Sara said. “I have some pictures if you’d like to see them,” she finally offered.

“Please,” Ellen said, excitedly.

Sara readjusted herself to turn around so she could more easily show off the pictures on her omni too. Ellen then moved over to one side of the bed, so there would be enough room for Sara to join her. Scott moved around the bed to use the chair that Sara had been using before, so they could all look at the pictures and get caught up together.

She showed off pictures of her and Jaal together as a happy couple. There were some of them on Aya and Havarl, and some at their wedding. There were a lot of pictures of Toivos as he had grown up. Some of him as a newborn, and some of the more important ones showing off his milestones. Sara had already narrowed down her exorbitant collection over the weeks, fully expecting to be going through a lot of them today to help her mother get caught up.

Sara had blurted out that Scott was getting married. She considered it payback for the way that he had basically announced Toivos and told their mother that he had been a result of a surprise pregnancy. Ellen had been ecstatic at that news as well, glad to know that her children had managed to achieve happy and fulfilling lives.

They had been having an amazing time explaining a lot of their more fond experiences, and Ellen had seemed to be taking to all of the new information more easily than they had expected after the initial shock. Though she did seem to notice a trend throughout all of the pictures since the beginning of their journey in Andromeda.

Sara had been smiling at one of the more recent ones of Jaal and Toivos, as Ellen seemed to become quiet. Sara put down her omni-tool at that, finally noticing the change in disposition, looking over to her mother. Ellen looked back at her with a bit of a sad smile on her face, looking hesitant.

“So tell me. I know he always struggled to connect with you two, but your father would not have been absent throughout these life events of yours. He loved you, whether he ever told you that or not.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “There’s a reason that your father isn’t here with us today, isn’t there?” Ellen asked softly. It was obvious to Sara and Scott that it seemed like she already knew the answer.

At the beginning of the day, this was a question that they had both been expecting, and knew that it was something they would need to discuss, but the happiness of everything else had made them forget up until now.

This was something that Sara felt particularly guilty about. She was the reason that he had died, sacrificing himself so that his daughter could live. She had already had to deliver this news once to Scott. It had been difficult, but she had told him the truth while she was speaking to him through SAM. He had been upset.

Their relationship with their father had always been somewhat conflicted. He had taken them under his wing and taught them how to be soldiers, but he was always distant with them. He never knew what to say to them or how to connect, but as they got older, they could see that he cared in his own ways, as hard as it was for him to show it, so they had both been upset when they heard about his passing.

Sara had gotten to know and understand him better through his memories that SAM had shown her. It had made her appreciate him more. She could finally see that there was a softer side to the man that he had only shown Ellen. There had been a few times throughout her life that she had questioned what her mother had seen in him. How she could have always been telling her and Scott to find love, like it had been the best thing to have ever happened to her. Sara couldn’t understand a world in which Alec had provided that for her.

That was, not until seeing how scared he was at the thought of losing her. Not until she saw, first hand, just how much he was fighting to save her. All of those memories flooding back were making it particularly hard for Sara to have to give the news this time.

Sara just sat there silently, glancing at Scott for encouragement, already feeling her throat tighten again.

“Our start in Andromeda wasn’t a good one,” Sara finally said, looking down at her swollen belly, for comfort, trying to ground herself with the thoughts of everything that had managed to go right since then. To remember that even though sacrifices had been made, there was still plenty of good things to be offered. “Dad didn’t make it,” Sara forced out before starting to sob again.

Scott grabbed her hand tightly, knowing how upsetting this was for her. She had already blamed herself over the years, only really letting that detail be known to Scott and Jaal. They had always been her rocks to help her through it, letting her know that it wasn’t her fault.

After Toivos was born, Scott had even asked Sara if she could have done things differently if the roles had changed and it was now somehow her and Toivos in the same situation. It had made Sara see the circumstances through a new perspective, knowing full well that she would do anything to make sure Toivos was safe. It had helped, but it didn’t alleviate the guilt completely.

Ellen had started shedding her own tears, but she could see more than just grief adorning Sara’s face. Especially with the way that Scott had started treating her, she knew there was more to this story.

Of course to Ellen, the news that she had somehow managed to live, despite being on her deathbed, and now had to wake up to a world with her husband no longer being in it had been a shock. It had immediately been saddening, but she couldn’t stand the look on Sara’s face. She quickly grabbed her daughter into a hug as best she could, without tugging too much on her IV.

“It was my fault,” Sara finally said between sobs. “He died to save me.”

Ellen hadn’t needed an explanation, and she made sure to change nothing about her hug, except to make it stronger, trying to reaffirm that she didn’t blame her daughter for this. She went back to shushing Sara in her arms. “My poor, sweet girl,” she whispered out in comforting tones through her own tears. “This was not your fault. I know your father. He would have done anything for any one of us were we ever in trouble,” she said, finally letting go of the hug to wipe away the tears on Sara’s face.

“I’m sorry that his decision has left you with what will likely be a lifetime of guilt, but I know that if things had ended differently, he wouldn’t have been able to live with himself. He loved you. Especially with seeing how well the both of you have turned out, I can honestly say that I know that he would be happy for you. I know that he wouldn’t have regretted his decision. You’re a beautiful person, Sara. Both inside and out, and you’ve created this beautiful life. You have a family of your own that wouldn’t exist if he hadn’t saved you. He didn’t make a mistake, and I will never blame you for it, do you hear me?”

Sara just nodded, her mother’s hands still comfortably adorning her face, before Ellen tugged her forehead down gently to give it a gentle kiss before hugging her again.

As sad as things had felt right now, it meant that all of the important and difficult information had been shared. Now they could all start moving on, and their mother would be there for it. Scott and Sara both knew that it would probably take time for her to adjust to her new life, especially having to wake up to it in mourning, but at least they could all do it together.


	14. Sincerely, Alec

Ellen had to adjust to a lot of new things after being brought out of cryo.

Every morning as she woke, there was always the lingering thought of this potentially being the last time that she would open her eyes. That was, until reality set in and she remembered that she would be fine. It was one of the better things she suddenly had to become accustomed to, because that one bleak moment in her mornings always led to bigger and brighter things yet to come.

She got to speak with her children every day. She basically sat on the edge of her seat, being enthralled with the stories about what had been going on in their lives, and learning about what had led them to come to Andromeda. She found out that it had been largely Alec’s idea in the first place.

She had always known that her family had been destined for great adventure, though she never would have been able to imagine the scale for which they had fulfilled that destiny, and in such a short time no less.

She had learned about everything that had gone wrong in Heleus at the start. How Sara had been alone for a decent portion of it, and shouldered with the responsibility of finding everyone safety and a home in her father’s absence. She had learned of how Scott had helped fight for it in the end too, suffering through his own battles on that front. Ellen had already been proud of her children, but the pride she felt after hearing that was something else. They had stuck together through the worst of times, and come out saving everyone in the end. They had accomplished something amazing, and without the guidance of their father. If she had ever doubted their abilities to take care of themselves, any of that fear had been all but squandered now, realising their full potentials.

She was happy for Sara and Scott having both been able to find love, especially in the midst of all that mess. It was something that she had desperately wanted for them. She had finally gotten a chance to meet Cora and Jaal, and she couldn’t help but think how perfectly her children had chosen life partners for themselves.

Cora seemed to be the stability that Scott had always craved. Someone to keep him in check when he was being a brat, which was something that Ellen had known he was fully capable of being more often than not. She hadn’t had much time with Cora though, thanks to them having to leave on the  _ Tempest _ again only a week after she woke up. She was learning that being a Pathfinder was a very taxing and important job. It made her even more proud to know of her children’s devotion to what they had signed on for. But Cora seemed genuine and honest. Ellen could see herself being friends with the woman, and realised that perhaps Scott would be good for her too.

She had more time to get to know Jaal thanks to staying on the  _ Nexus _ . Jaal and Sara had offered her Toivos’ bed while she recovered and while they found her a more permanent placement. They would have offered her the spare room, but they had already turned it into a nursery for the new baby.

Jaal hadn’t been anything like what she had expected. His large and almost intimidating stature hadn’t accurately represented himself at all. He had been immensely kind and gentle, and incredibly open. It almost surprised her to know that this is who Sara had chosen for herself. Sara had always seemed so emotionally closed off, in many ways just liker her father, at least with the addition of having a naturally pleasant disposition, still making her easily likable.

She could see the changes that their relationship had provided for Sara. Her daughter had always been open with her, but Sara tended to need to trust people pretty deeply to feel comfortable enough to be emotionally vulnerable with them. She could see that her daughter was in her true element, entirely comfortable any time she was around Jaal, and she could sense a more general ease to herself around other people now as well. Sara seemed to have legitimately found her place, and chosen someone that was capable of bringing out the best in her.

Jaal had quickly taken up much of Ellen’s time as soon as they met, and she hadn’t minded in the least. He had been insanely curious about Sara’s upbringing. Of course he had asked Sara about her life before Andromeda plenty of times, and she had always shared as much of it as she remembered, but he liked hearing about it from the perspective of the woman who raised her.

They had bonded easily over tinkering with things. Jaal was fascinated with her background in biological engineering (even if the biology part of that wasn’t his strong suit), and her work with biotic implants. As Sara would watch them work on things, she realised that she was doomed to catch Toivos taking apart the robot vacuum at some point during his upbringing, finding it hard to believe that he would have missed inheriting the curiosity trait with its now apparent strength having come from both sides of their family.

She met Toivos, and Scott had been right. It was impossible to not have fallen in love with him the instant that she set her eyes on him. She had loved looking at the pictures, but it was different seeing him in person. She could so easily see parts of Sara in him. He looked so much like her even with his unique features.

He had been shy at first, naturally, but he had opened up rather easily. He was used to meeting a lot of new people, so Ellen hadn’t been so different from those experiences. She had seemed nice enough to him, though he had found it strange that she was crying, and he hadn’t really known what to do about it. So when he finally gained some courage he went over to her and awkwardly patted her head and said, “Don’t cwy.” It had made Ellen laugh through the tears and open up her arms, asking for a hug that he had easily reciprocated.

Ellen had been surprised at his natural predisposition of being nurturing and sweet. She remembered her own children at this age, and they had been nothing but rambunctious children fighting with each other all the time. She figured Toivos must have gotten these particular traits from Jaal’s side of the family.

She tried to help take care of Toivos as much as she could since waking in order to squeeze two years worth of getting to know him into as short a time as possible before the new baby would get here. She knew that he would likely end up having a difficult time with everyone else wanting to give the new baby all of the attention, and she wanted to make sure that he knew how much she loved him before the baby got here. Of course she would give Toivos the time and dedication he deserved after the fact, but she wanted to make sure he wouldn’t question that she loved him too.

Sahuna had been kept up to date on Ellen’s condition longer than most. Sara had confided in her, telling her about that particular secret shortly after Toivos was born, and how there had still been hope to meet her some day. Sahuna had been extremely excited to meet her as well, and said so often throughout her treatment.

They had talked over omni-tool briefly after Ellen had some time to recuperate first, but that had never been enough for Sahuna, desperately wanting to finally get the chance to meet her in person. They had opted to wait slightly longer though, since Sara had been due to give birth so soon. That way she could come and stay for a while to help with Toivos too after the new baby arrived.

She had ended up coming to stay on the  _ Nexus _ a week before Sara’s due date, giving her time to get acquainted properly. She had immediately drawn Ellen into a big hug, taking an example from her and Sara’s meeting where Sara had done the same, thinking that humans must ‘like the hugging’ too, treating her like she had been a part of the family for as long as Sara had been.

They had gotten along well immediately, bonding over how in love their children were. They had a lot in common, and Sahuna admired her life experiences and open mindedness, easily seeing where Sara had gotten it from. She caught herself often asking about Ellen’s experiences through the first contact war. Sahuna herself hadn’t been old enough to know a time before the kett, but her parents had lived through it, and she had heard all of their stories, even though they had been long gone at this point.

Ellen had easily shared her experiences adjusting to the knowledge that they weren’t alone in the universe. Even though they had also ended up at war, things had turned out much nicer for the humans in the long run, ending up as one small piece in a larger shared galactic community. It hadn’t come with years of ravaging everything that they had known and loved, even though their own war had been difficult in its own right. They shared their hope that it would be the fate for everyone in Heleus now as well, to be able to find that community again, and they were happy that it was a hope that was well on its way to fruition at this point.

Ellen had awoken to find so much joy waiting for her, genuinely appreciating this second chance and everything that it had to offer. It had only been five weeks since that fateful day, and that time had already provided so much.

Waking up from cryo had always seemed to come with newfound invigoration for people, having felt like you had slept enough and missed out on too much life already, but Ellen had the added benefit of knowing that she was no longer dying. She had a new lease on life, and she hated the thought of sleeping it away.

She had quickly found purpose. She would continue Alec’s work on SAM. Sara had told her about what had happened during their fight for Meridian. How he had overtaken so much of her that it had almost killed her when he had been disconnected. (It technically had killed her, but she purposefully chose to leave that part out of the story. Sara figured it would probably scare her mother more than necessary to learn of just how many times she had already technically died at this point, and they didn’t need to go down that particular road.)

Ellen couldn’t help but think that it was somewhat fitting. SAM had been created to try to save her, but his purpose had gone far beyond that. He was still important to their continued survival in Andromeda, and it would benefit everyone if the pathfinders could be attached to him safely again. She would continue her husbands work, and would find ways to be surrounded by his presence even if he weren’t here to share in the experience.

Sara had told her of his memories, and getting a chance to witness them for herself. Ellen’s own SAM implant was not as advanced as any of theirs. She wouldn’t get to see them for this reason. Not yet anyway. Admittedly that’s part of why she had chosen to continue this work. To have a piece of him left for her.

It would be her contribution to Andromeda, and it would provide purpose and mourning, and it would be important for her, but today that wasn’t what was important.

Today found her new happiness, because here she was, looking down at this brand new little baby. Quiet and exhausted from his journey into the universe. Sleeping soundly after making his entrance known rather loudly only a few hours prior, nearly a week overdue.

He had already had a feeding, and some time to be cuddled and adored by his parents, but now they had both been tired from an intense labour. Sara had given Ellen the full details of her labour with Toivos, and this one had been quite different than that. Instead of the shock and anxiety associated with the first, Sara was just ready to get it over with this time. It had been much calmer, being able to labour in the comfort of her own home for some time before going to the hospital where she had been expected, rather than rushing to find anyone to help.

Sara was now comfortably passed out on her hospital bed, and Jaal was snoring loudly in the chair beside it, looking rather uncomfortable. Ellen had to laugh at that, wondering how it was possible that Sara managed to ever get any sleep with the sheer volume of it.

Ellen had been there throughout the whole thing too, but she wasn’t tired. She had still been running on the high of witnessing her daughter give birth. She had already gotten to see Sara as a mother, which had made her incredibly proud. She had done an amazing job with Toivos. But there was something special about witnessing your child giving the gift of life. It wasn’t something that Ellen would soon forget.

There had been a time that Ellen had been ready to die. She had been sick for a long time. She had fought for a long time. She had finally reached a point that it had been enough. She knew full well the things that she would have been leaving behind, and it had been unfair. Her children had still been so young, but it was the way of things. No one was capable of escaping death, and she had begun to hear it beckoning for her through the immense exhaustion and never ending headaches. She had been at peace because there was simply no other way to feel about it. It was coming for her whether she wanted it to or not, and she was just ready for it to be over with so everyone that she would be leaving behind could start to move on with their lives.

She had constantly had to fight Alec over the matter. About it having just been her time to go. She had known her fate, and he wasn’t willing to let it be. She loved him for it, but it pained her to think that he had been grasping onto straws that would never come to fruition. It wasn’t healthy. She didn’t want him to linger on her loss. But it appears as though he had been right in the end. Something she never would have expected. She had been ready to leave this existence, but she was insurmountably glad that she hadn’t. Especially now, seeing the life that she would have missed out on.

Alec was a complicated man. His life had lead him to only know love through very specific circumstances. He had constantly tried to fight against it and shield himself from it. He had seen too much during the war, and throughout his career as an N7. He knew what loss was, and he didn’t want love to complicate that already difficult and simple fact of life. But that hadn’t changed the fact that he had met Ellen.

He had gotten into the habit of only showing people his shell. He didn’t let people in. It was too hard. He protected himself from making connections or feeling anything, but Ellen had been one of the only ones who had seen through it. She had seen that as much as he showed this strong disposition, that he was still someone who needed love. He needed it more than most, and she was the one who had been capable of breaking down his walls despite how difficult he had made it.

Their love had been one that most hadn’t understood. Everyone could easily see the kindness and joviality that Ellen had always shown. It was something that came naturally to her. She was likable, and he was not. Alec was hard. He had been a closed book. He was a constant display of apathy save for when he was working. Those were the times he had been nothing but strict and stern and focused. It had made everyone feel sorry for Ellen, wrongly assuming that she was stuck in a dead marriage. Forever tied to someone who didn’t feel anything about anything, much less her.

She never particularly cared for their misguided judgments, always assuming that she must be unhappy, because that couldn’t have been farther from the truth. She always tried not to put much thought into what other people said about them, because no one knew the true Alec.

The only people that she had wished could have seen the man for who he truly was underneath the forced facade were her children. He had tried with them. Sara would have been able to attest to this, remembering the subtle twitches on his face as he had tried to reassure her that Scott would be okay after his pod had malfunctioned. It was hard, but he really had tried to let them in.

And the truth was that even if he hadn’t been good at showing it, they had pried their way into his heart. They had permeated themselves more deeply than he ever would have cared for. It had scared him. The thought of losing anyone important to him had been the terror that he had tried to prevent his whole adult life. The thought of potentially losing his children would have been enough to make him break. It had been easy for Ellen to understand his sacrifice for Sara.

His sacrifice that had given her this gift to be holding their grandchild in her arms. Only one gift of many, also having granted her a second chance at this life. Something for which she thanked him more desperately now than at any other point in her last five weeks.

Ellen couldn’t keep her eyes off of this tiny new being, safely tucked away in her arms, as she gently rocked back and forth in her chair. Alec Ryder Ama Darav.

Sara had already told her that she and Jaal had been discussing that name if it were another boy. Her daughter still had such conflicting feelings over the man. She had grown into nothing much more than a distant relationship with him, but seeing his memories over her time as Pathfinder had made her see him in a new light. She had finally realised that he was just a person trying his best, and not her infallible father. He had provided the gift of giving his children their mother back. She finally appreciated everything that he had ever done for them, and she wanted to make sure that his name lived on.

A name that depicted Alec’s legacy. The last true gift that he had given them all. A legacy that had evolved beyond himself in more ways than he probably ever would have thought possible.

It had given them two beautiful grandchildren. He would have been proud. He would have hidden it well, but Ellen would have known. He was good at hiding himself from everyone except her. Every subtle tug at his lip, or slight furrow of his brow would have gone missed by most. But she could always see it. The tormented soul beyond his physical person that was still capable of feeling and knowing happiness, and Ellen couldn’t help but think that this would have been one of the happiest moments that his life would have had to offer.

He had always referred to Ellen as the glue of their family. That he just simply didn’t know what to do without her. She couldn’t help but think that was why he had tried so hard to save her. He had been scared about what losing her would mean for their family.

Ellen couldn’t help but think that he may have been more of the glue of their family than he had given himself credit for. He had kept their family together, as difficult as it may have been. He had brought them here.

Even before Andromeda, and before Ellen had been put into cryo, he was always running things from the shadows, gladly letting Ellen reap the rewards. He wouldn’t have had it any other way. He didn’t know how to reciprocate his children's happiness. Not in the way that Ellen had. He never minded getting to live vicariously through her, because that was the only way that he felt that his children would receive the love that they needed. Not that he hadn’t felt love for them himself. He just knew that his capabilities of showing it would never be what they had truly deserved.

In the end he had shown love in the most important form. One that was greater than life itself. The love for his child that he had defended until his end.

That love and dedication had left them all with the gift of being here together. Celebrating life and a shared future.

Ellen loved that man. Always misunderstood. Always well-intentioned. Always just trying to do his best with what he had been given. She would always love him, but she found that she loved him more now than ever before, with this gift of a second chance for their family. They would go on living without him, but purely because of him. He had provided everything for them, and it was something that they would all cherish for the rest of their lives.


	15. Sincerely, The Milky Way

For so long the Angara had thought they were alone in the universe. The ways in which they had discovered how wrong they were had been atrocious and filled with war and conflict for nearly a century before they were met with the species from the Milky Way.

Their start together had been somewhat forced at first, since there was no way that the Initiative and its people could return to where they had come from. Sara had taken it upon herself to prove to the angara through action and not words, that her people were not a threat. That even though they had come here to find new homes, that in turn would end up taking away from the people who already inhabited this cluster, that their intentions were not inherently evil.

It had taken more work than what would have been necessary had everything gone to plan for a successful arrival in Heleus. But instead, thanks to the  _ Nexus _ uprising, and her people who had already strayed from the mission overtaking Kadara, she had been left with a lot of trust issues to repair that had already been compounded by an awful history with the kett. The seeds of doubt had long been planted within the angaran people, but she had always persevered, constantly trying to show that her own people were willing to make sacrifices to provide peace.

Their lives in true co-existence had started off as one in turmoil, and wariness. It had started out as a mission against a common enemy at the time, simply thinking of each other as the ‘lesser evil’. The angara had gone out on a limb to have included Jaal on the  _ Tempest, _ and it likely ended up being one of the best things for everyone now inhabiting the Heleus cluster. Through working together, and finding something deeper with each other, Jaal and Sara had led the way to their peoples’ futures being so much more.

Sara’s constant devotion to finding a safe home for everyone had always included the angara ever since the first moment they met. It had never been a question for her, already knowing a reality where different species could live and work together peacefully.

Together on the  _ Tempest _ , Sara and Jaal had created a bond so strong that they were able to bring everyone together in their time of need, fighting for Meridian and a shared home, and for the two of them it was a beautiful reality.

Their kiss after winning the battle had been a symbol of what had been won. A future unified by a shared strength that was only amplified by their alliance. It was something that Jaal and Sara would continue to fight for.

Toivos had been a symbol of how their partnership had seemed like it was almost meant to be. His simple existence would never have been a possibility had the Initiative not gone on this journey of theirs, or if the angara had assumed hostility. He was something that showed creation instead of destruction. He was a legacy to prove that the worst of times were behind them, and to know that they truly weren’t alone anymore.

It hadn’t been the fastest journey for everyone to have seen things that way. The angara had been burdened with a century of only knowing attempted domination from the outside. It had been hard to let that truth go. To see that there could be a potential for something more had been a challenge, but as time went on, the reality of a future where people like Toivos was a possibility had become more accepted, and even sought after.

He had bridged the gaps. He was the embodiment of innocence from both sides. A purity that wasn’t dirtied by ruthless histories. He was proof of willingness to share, and not take. Something new and profound. Something to be loved and cherished. Nothing like the kett.

And he was only the first of many. The leading force in a legacy that would change the history of their people. Forever molding and challenging the world around them.

It was a legacy still in its infancy though. Toivos was young, and it had taken years for everyone to fully develop that trust that their people had finally managed to sustain. But even still, it was fragile. Putting this amount of faith in someone other than their own people was new in the grand scheme of things for the angara, and even though things were good, it would likely take more time to fully repair the damage done by the kett.

There was always a chance that it would never entirely be realised either, but together, Sara and Jaal had shown everyone on their respective sides that they could live in peace and true harmony. That they could be cohesive and create something beautiful. That they could find love and meaning with one another. Toivos had been a way to forever tie themselves together. He was their unbreakable bond that proved something more important than themselves, and a devotion not only to each other, but to that of each others races as well.

The Jardaan had left the angara with this incredible gift of adaptability, but it was the Milky Way that had given them the gift to be able to fully realise its true potentials. 

It was the Milky Way species that had given the Angara the gift of seeing that the rest of the universe could have something good to offer. That life would prevail through all of the death and sacrifice of their ancestors to flourish and become something entirely new. It created a deeper understanding and empathy within their people, to know that the greater beyond of space could hold more than just wars and bleak outlooks. It had reminded them that there was kindness out there, even if it had taken them more than 80 years to find it.

The kett were something that everyone still feared. They all knew that Meridian was merely a battle in what was sure to be a greater war yet to come, but what Heleus had now adapted into had drawn everyone together through allied forces, and bonds created by new blood. They all knew that they could now face anything that the kett could ever throw at them, because they were now one of many.

The Milky Way had provided the answer to the angara that they were not alone, and for the first time in their existence, that was a good thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it is, the end. A bit of a short chapter at least as far as my stuff usually goes, but anyway, If you've made it this far, I want to thank you for reading and giving my sequel a chance.


End file.
